Sunset deals with the effects of the Fall Formal while Cheerilee learns how hard being a parent can be. Together, the mother and daughter learn more about each other and deal with more challenges.
With the whole school hating her except a select few, Sunset hates herself and is depressed. Cheerilee learns how hard being a parent is and deals with things she never thought parenthood involved.
“Do we really have to do this Mom?” Sunset grumbled. She was sitting on the edge of the bed without a shirt as I examined her back injuries. Even though the Fall Formal had been about two months ago, I still checked on her injuries.
“Yes we do. I’m making sure it’s healing Sunset,” I chided. “It’s important to make sure it is since you stopped taking care of it.”
“Because it is what it is. I don’t care what happens with it,” Sunset groaned. I applied a band aid and she flinched. “That kinda hurt.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to,” I apologized. “Are you still taking your anti depressants the doctor gave you?” Sunset gave a nervous chuckle and looked away, rubbing the back of her head and I narrowed my eyes. “Sunset. Are you taking your medication?”
“No,” Sunset admitted. “I’m not.” I gave into the urge to facepalm and sighed, rubbing my face.
“Sunset, you need to take your medicine. It’s there for a reason. Pills don’t solve everything don’t get me wrong, but they help. Mental health is important,” I explained.
“I know. I’m sorry. It just doesn’t seem to work for me and I can’t take them. I can’t swallow pills no matter how hard I try,” Sunset sighed as I finished examining her back.
“You should have told me from the beginning and I would have asked if they had it in liquid form. I can cut it into four small pieces and you can try to take it that way,” I suggested.
“I know. I didn’t want to be a burden. It’s all I am,” Sunset sighed. I rolled my eyes and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“You’re not a burden. If you have trouble with something, just say so and I’ll help you.”
“Can I put my shirt back on please? It’s kinda awkward sitting here with only my jeans and bra on. It’s cold too,” Sunset avoided my request. I’ll get her to open up a bit more later. I never knew this would be so difficult, but I don’t regret it. Being a parent is hard is what I’m beginning to realize. It’s a pretty good learning experience so far.
“Yeah I’m done,” I sighed. I caught her grateful look in the mirror as she slipped her shirt on, wincing as it slid over the cuts where her wings had been. “You okay?”
“Yeah I’m fine. Back hurts a bit. I’ll take some Tylenol later,” Sunset mumbled.
“I’ll get some adult extra strength when we go to the store next week. They’ll heal up soon don’t worry,” I hugged her gently. I really didn’t want to end up accidentally hurting her. At least school was almost out temporarily for winter break. Just got a few more days till two weeks off. Thank God. I loved my job, but I wanted to spend time with my daughter away from a bunch of chaotic, rude teens.
“Sorry about your leather jacket being destroyed in the rainbow by the way. I know it meant a lot to you,” Sunset whispered. “I hope you’re not mad at me.” Sunset had been going through a really crazy depression. I could somewhat relate, losing my first daughter and everything.
“It’s just a possession. I don’t care about it. You’re way more important than just a leather jacket,” I squeezed her from behind. Sure, I’ve had that jacket since like highschool or something, but still didn’t compare to a living breathing person. “I can always get you another one if you wanted.”
“I don’t know. I don’t think I want another one to be honest. No offense.” I raised an eyebrow at that. I was really surprised, she loved that jacket. She took that literally everywhere. It really did complete her look.
“Why not?” I asked curiously. Sunset shrugged and slipped out of the hug and laid down on her bed.
“Reminds me of the Dark Ages and I’d rather not think about that. Time to try something new. After all, people who change often change their clothes right?” Sunset questioned me. The Dark Ages is what she and I called pre Fall Formal era. I was really shocked to find out all that she had did. Really went under my nose, but she’s a better person and I’m proud of who she’s become. Sure, working through the depression and self depreciation is hard but we’re getting there.
“Uh I guess so? We can go before groceries and can go to my favorite clothing store,” I smiled at her. Sunset gave a rare faint smile that I adored. She rarely smiled, which really sucked. She has a very nice smile. Really brightens up a room whenever she does it.
“I’d like that a lot. Can I skip school tomorrow?” Sunset asked hopefully. I sighed and stared at her.
“You know how important school is to me, Sunset. I can’t let you skip unless you’re sick love. Are you having trouble with someone or something?” I asked suspiciously. I’m not a very violent person but if someone does anything to her I’ll fight a person.
“No everything is fine. I just don’t want to go,” Sunset shrugged. “I like being at home. School is loud and home is quiet. Don’t tell Granny Smith this, but your cooking is better than hers. Oh and I don’t have to be forced to socialize with others. That’s the most important thing.”
“Socializing is important Sunny. You shouldn’t let that go,” I reminded her. “I only had my sisters and four friends in school. Don’t be like me, please. Take full advantage of the rest of your high school life.” Sunset looked at me in surprise.
“I didn’t know you had sisters,” she remarked. I gave her a mischievous wink.
“You never asked but don’t worry, you’ll meet them soon. They have heard a lot about you. Only good things, I assure you.”
“What are their names?” Sunset asked curiously. I was happy to see she was a bit curious. She mainly just moped around or watched TV or slept.
“Cherry Berry and Berry Punch. Cherry runs a fruit stand in a farmer market and Berry runs a wine company. Buys all her grapes from Cherry. Gotta support family and all,” I smiled. “I love them a lot. And they love you too.”
“They’ve never even met me. Why would they care about me?” Sunset asked with a startled expression. I tried my hardest to not laugh at it. She always managed to have the funniest facial expressions. And I mean that in a good way. At least she retained her curious nature. Might be the teacher in me speaking, but I loved that she still liked learning. Heck, I found her reading her chemistry and math book the other day. For fun. I didn’t even know you COULD read a math book but she found a way. She’s a very skilled girl.
“Because I care about you. They have their issues but they support me in all my endeavors and I support them. It’s what my family does, you’ll see it soon enough. Because you’re part of this family and they’re very excited to meet you.” We fell into a comfortable quiet silence and I stared out the window at the starry sky. I loved the stars since I was a kid. The way they spread across the night sky just always blew away my eight year mind.
“Hey mom?” Sunset broke me from my musing. I gave her a warm smile at her half asleep, hugging her pillow.
“Yeah?”
“Can I uh ask you a very weird question?” She asked, eyes flicking away from me.
“Yeah of course,” I chuckled. “You don’t have to ask me if you can ask a question. What’s up?”
“Can you uh sleep with me tonight? I don’t want to sleep alone tonight,” Sunset asked quietly. She quickly made eye contact with me and looked nervous. I laid down next to her, wrapping an arm around her carefully and pulled a blanket over us.
“Do we really have to do this?” I asked nervously as I stood in front of the school. A hand was placed down on my shoulder and I glanced up at Cheerilee’s smiling face.
“We do yes. You’re in most of my classes so I will be able to watch over you,” Mom reassured me. “And if anyone does anything to you, tell me immediately and I’ll punish them.” I gave an unconvinced nod and with a sigh, I slowly pushed open the doors of the school. Instantly, the hallway got quiet and a bunch of people glared at me. Gulping, I continued walking forward, barely looking up.
“They don’t like me,” I mumbled. “This is pointless.”
“They will turn around. Everything will look up and this weekend, I got a surprise for you,” she winked at me. “Just wait and see.” Mom was probably the most optimistic person I’ve ever met. Well other than my worlds version of Lyra back home. Well she was the time she asked me to have lunch with her and her friends after the blue unicorn said the vine I made was “amazing.” I don’t even know her name but I remember her mane and cutie mark. A hour glass cutie mark must mean she’s either an hour glass maker or really good with time. I’d bet both.
“Can I just go get my schoolwork from my few classes you don’t teach and just stay all day in your classroom working? In fact, can I just do this till we graduate?” I asked hopefully with a smile. I doubted she would say yes but better to try and ask.
“I should say no but yes. I’ll go talk to Cranky and Harshwhinny and tell them you’re going to be in my class working,” Mom sighed. “Can’t do it all year but for a few days is fine with me.”
“Thanks mom,” I felt relieved. Finally I could be somewhat safe from the bullying. Last week, I narrowly avoided a stapler to the head. “I’ll head to your classroom right now.”
“Alrighty. I’ll meet you there dear,” Cheerilee gave me a quick kiss on the forehead and my cheeks burned faintly. Even if it was my mom, I still felt happy to get some form of affection. And let me tell you, Cheerilee showers me in it back home. She gave a wave as she rounded the corner and I stood alone in the hallway. I sighed and started walking before I bumped into a blue girl.
“Oh uhm I’m sorry,” I mumbled. The girl picked her backpack up and glared at me.
“The Great and Powerful Trixie thinks you should watch where you’re going,” she snapped and reached into her pocket, throwing some powder in my face. “Be gone, demon!”
“Gah!” I yelped and tried to wipe the powder off my face. It burned like a motherfucker, sweet christ alive. What the fuck was this powder? I sat down and tried wiping it off again to no avail. I faintly heard a bunch of laughing and I blinked, looking at some pointing students. I shoved myself up and ran to the bathroom crying, the laughter following me. I shoved a stall door open and sat down with my head in my hands, sniffling.
You deserve this,Sunset. It’s only fair they get revenge on me after all I did to them, I told myself. Doesn’t hurt any less though. I finally was able to wipe some of the powder off when a faint knock on the door got my attention.
“Uhm hello?” A voice mumbled outside the stall. “Are you okay in there, Sunset?” I didn’t recognize the voice so I was instantly on alert. Might be someone else interested in hurting me.
“Go away. I don’t know who you are but I’m fine,” I sounded miserable even to me. I shouldn’t even be here in this miserable cruel world. Wish I was back home, even for a second. I miss my tail. I miss my warm coat and most of all, I miss my magic. Stupid portal being closed for another thirty moons. Can’t even go home if I wanted to. Not like Twilight or Celestia would allow me back after what I did. They’d probably have me executed for what I did.
“Open up Sunset,” the voice ordered. Who the hell was this girl thinking she was? When somepony, sorry somebody. When somebody says go away, it typically means GO AWAY. After Twilight came here, I relapsed once again into saying pony. At least Mom found it funny in a good way and didn’t make fun of me like I thought she would when she found out her adopted daughter was a magical pony and not even a human. I sighed and stood up, opening the door. A grey girl with blonde hair and slightly messed up eyes stood outside the door with a nervous expression. Her eyes went wide when she saw my face.
“Oh my gosh,” the grey girl covered her mouth. “Are you okay?”
“Just peachy,” I grumbled and she flinched. I instantly realized I accidentally used my old angry tone. “Sorry about that. Just frustrated is all.”
“It’s okay. Come to the sink and I’ll wash your face,” she instructed. I stared at her as she waited for me at the sink. “I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to help you.”
“Why? I don’t even know you. Shouldn’t you hate me like everyone else does?” I asked suspiciously and on edge as I stepped forward cautiously to the sink.
“First off, I don’t have the ability to hate anyone. And secondly, my name is Derpy,” she turned the sink on and got a paper towel wet. “Sure, I was a bit mad when you sabotaged my friends and I chances to become Fall Formal Princess that one year but I don’t hate you.” I stood still as she wiped some of the dried powder off my face.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked. I didn’t really deserve any form of kindness after everything. “Especially if I sabotaged you. Who are your friends?” Derpy chuckled and held up a hand as she got another paper towel wet.
“I can only answer so many questions at once. One at a time please. First question is easy to answer. I want to help you because you need it obviously. Simple as that. And my friends are Lyra, Bon Bon, Vinyl and Octavia.” I was a bit nervous now. Me and Octavia didn’t really get along. We had a competitive relationship in school, both trying to be the best.
“Sorry for so many questions,” I shrank down a bit. “It won’t happen again. Just curious is all. Sorry for being annoying.” Derpy rolled her eyes and groaned.
“You’re not being annoying. Just slow down the questions please. Hard for keep up,” Derpy growled in frustration as she wiped my face. I hope she was growling because she was having trouble cleaning my face and not at me. “Who did this to you, anyway?”
“Trixie did after I bumped into her accidently,” I admitted. “It’s fine.”
“Fine? It’s not fine! This is assault. You could press charges. At least tell someone,” Derpy exclaimed.
“No! I’m not pressing charges and I’m not telling a soul. I deserve this treatment,” I grumbled. Hopefully she would leave it at that.
“You don’t deserve this. No one does deserve abuse,” Derpy chided. “It’s wrong.”
“And so is what I did. It doesn’t matter,” I groaned, rubbing my hair.
“It does. What are you gonna say if any teachers or the principals ask you about it?” Derpy pointed out and I froze. I hadn’t thought about that at all. Mom was certainly going to have questions and ask me till I gave her an answer.
“I figure it out,” I stepped out of the bathroom. “Uh thanks Derpy for the help.”
“My pleasure,” We started walking to our classes. “What class are you going to now?”
“Uh Mo- Miss Cheerilee’s,” I admitted with a sheepish smile. Almost let it slip she was my mom. Not that either of us were embarrassed by it. I just didn’t want her getting harassed by the students.
“I have her first hour. I’ll walk with you,” Derpy smiled as she opened the door. At least this was a smallish school and I could get to everything quickly.
“You two are late,” Mom announced. “Where were you?” Me and Derpy looked at each other hesitantly.
“Bathroom,” I whispered. Mom finally looked up from her computer and did a double take when she saw my puffy eyes. Her eyes narrowed and stared at me.
“Sunset, what happened to you face?” She asked with a hint of anger in her voice. A few students laughed and Mom focused her glare on them instead of me and they instantly quieted down and started working.
“Nothing. I uh got soap in them,” I lied. I tried to ignore Derpy’s disapproving look. Based on Mom’s expression, she knew I was lying and didn’t believe me at all. I forced a smile on my face and hoped it seemed genuine. Mom let out a long sigh.
“Fine I won’t push it right now. But you’ll tell me what happened later after school.”
“So you’re one hundred percent sure you somehow got soap in your eyes?” I folded my arms across my chest and stared at the girl sitting across me at the dinner table. Sunset took a sip of her water nervously and set it back down on the table.
“Yes mom. That’s exactly what happened. I had trouble with the soap dispenser and so I got down on my knees and looked into it to see if it was empty and it all came out into my eyes,” Sunset explained as she looked down at her salad. I sighed and narrowed my eyes. I knew she was lying of course. That was an awful excuse she just made up. It made absolutely no sense. I’m not stupid, I just don’t know why she’s doing it. But I’m about to find out.
“I know you’re lying Sunset. What I don’t know is why,” I softened my gaze. “What’s going on?” Sunset sighed and looked away.
“I can’t say,” Sunset admitted. “It’ll get people in trouble and I won’t say more than that.” I absolutely hated the whole I can’t say anything mentality. That’s the only way things get fixed is if people speak up. But based on her answer, I had something to go on at least.
“So something did happen,” I said triumphantly. “What was it that happened?” Hopefully she would open up and tell me. If not, I could always check the cameras and see what happened. It would take some work and a lot of effort, but I’d do it.
“I can’t say. I caused enough trouble as is,” Sunset mumbled. I groaned quietly and rolled my eyes.
“Didn’t we work on no self depreciation?” I asked pointedly. Sunset sighed and slammed her head against the table.
“If I tell you, will they not get in trouble?” Sunset asked quietly.
“I won’t lie to you. They will get in trouble yes,” I admitted. “Your eyes were red from whatever they did.”
“Well that was from crying afterwards. It was Trixie. She threw some of her disappearing dust in my face after I accidentally bumped into her. That’s why Derpy and I were late. She was helping me clean it off my face,” Sunset explained reluctantly. My gaze slightly hardened at that information.
“Well at least one student is nice enough to help you. I’ll have to thank Derpy later at school tomorrow. She doesn’t know I’m your parent, does she?”
“No. I didn’t want the other students finding out and harassing you,” she admitted. “You’ve kept me safe all this time. It’s time I return the favor by keeping you safe.” I smirked and rolled my eyes.
“I’m a grownup. I can handle myself. If you don’t wish to tell others yet, I understand. But I think Derpy would be very supportive of it. And it’s my job to keep you safe. There’s no favor to return,” I said. Sunset nodded very slowly. “And a good friend for you.”
I rested my hands on my desk and stared at the sweating grey girl who was fidgeting nervously in her seat across from me.
“So Derpy. You’re probably wondering why you’re in my classroom with the door closed,” I spoke up. Derpy hesitantly nodded.
“Y-yes I am. Did I do something wrong? Was there an issue with my homework? Was-” I held a hand up and she stopped talking.
“Nothing is wrong. Quite the opposite actually,” I smiled and Derpy visibly relaxed. “Your grades are fine, don’t worry. I have someone who has something she wants to tell you.” I nodded at the door and Sunset opened it, stepping in and locking it, pulling the blinds down.
“Sunset? Why are you here?” Derpy asked with a confused look on her face. Derpy was one of my other favorite students, along with Sunset. I feel I might be a bit biased there though with Sunset. While Derpy didn’t always get answers right, she never let that stop her from asking and answering questions and interacting with the class. She has a crazy bubbly personality that can sometimes get too much even for me. Which I never thought I’d say that at all but here I am.
“First off, thanks for helping me the other day,” Sunset sat down at my side after she pulled up a chair. “You didn’t have to but you did.”
“Uhm I did have to. I’m a nice person,” Derpy announced and I gave her an even bigger warm smile. “What did you have to tell me?” Her golden eyes flicked between the two of us.
“Remember when you asked me what class I was going to after wards?” Sunset asked. Derpy gave a slow confused nod.
“Well yeah. You said Miss Cheerilee. Why were you in her room all day?” Derpy looked even more confused. Sunset and I looked at each other and she gave me a faint nod.
“Because I’m her mom. She stayed with me all day because she wanted to avoid people,” I explained and Derpy’s eyes went wide. Sunset and I shared a chuckle at the reaction.
“Wait. How is she your mom? Aren’t you from a different world?” Derpy finally asked after looking between us.
“How does everyone know I’m from a different world?” Sunset grumbled. “To answer your question, she asked me if I wanted to be adopted by her before the Fall Formal. After my whole redemption thing, I wandered around town for a few hours debating and I came to her house, asked if it was still on the table and she said she had already signed the papers a few days earlier.”
“You said you went to the hospital! You didn’t say you wandered around town!” I glared at her and she flinched slightly.
“I did. After I left, I wanted to get my thoughts together. Hence why I was soaked when I was on your door step. I may have forgotten to mention that part,” Sunset admitted sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head. “Sorry.” I sighed and calmed down slightly.
“It’s all good. Sorry for a minor freak out there,” I turned faintly red as I focused back on Derpy. “Thank you for helping her when she needed it. It means a lot to her, and me. She doesn’t want anyone else to know that we are family because she’s trying to keep me safe. Her exact words. Let’s keep this between the three of us, please.” Derpy gave an enthusiastic nod so fast I honestly thought her head would pop off. That would be a awkward conversation to have with her parents.
“I can do that. But why are you telling me all this?” Derpy asked. Sunset took a deep breath.
“Because uh I want to be friends with you. Not even Applejack or the others know about this. They will in time but I’m not ready yet. You were the best first person to tell because you won’t judge us,” Sunset explained with a hopeful expression. “And you wouldn’t hurt mom at all because you’re not violent.”
“You really want to be friends? With me?” Derpy asked in a low shocked voice.
“Yes I do,” Sunset announced. I’m very proud of her right now, hopefully this will help out a bit with the depression. At least we had been making progress on her taking the pills. Peanut butter can solve absolutely anything and I’m willing to die by that opinion.
“But why? I’m broken and damaged goods,” Derpy pointed at her cross eyes. “Only four people are my friends.”
“Fuck people who insult you,” Sunset snapped.
“Sunset Shimmer! Language!” I chided. I only used her full name when I needed to get her attention or she was in trouble. Okay, sure sometimes I jokingly used it but that’s besides the point.
“Sorry mom,” Sunset mumbled.
“Didn’t you insult me once?” Derpy sighed. “I forgive you for that by the way. I already know you’re gonna beat yourself up for it, so don’t bother trying.” I gave a chuckle at that. She knew Sunset fairly well so this just gave me more hope they would be friends.
“Yeah I was having a bad day that day and you were the first person I saw. I’m sorry for that. And maybe we can be broken and damaged goods together,” Sunset offered hopefully. Derpy gave her an excited smile after a moment of silence.
“I’d like that a lot.”
“Can she come over and hangout tonight mom?” Sunset switched her hopeful look to me and I melted a bit at the adorableness.
“If she gets her parents permission, then yes. Yes she can.”
“Are ya alright sugarcube?” Applejack asked me. I flinched and looked up. I really didn’t feel comfortable around her or her friends. It’s like they view me as a chore and not an actual friend. Hell, they rarely invite me places. I get I was a bitch and all but I don’t know. Shouldn’t they kinda put an effort forth to even get to know me?
“Yeah why?” I forced out as I sipped my water. I’ve been drinking so much water recently than pop, it’s insane. I used to drink at least four or five pops a day. And now I only drink two. One in the morning and one at dinner.
“You’re being kinda quiet,” Rainbow admitted. “It’s weird.” I gave her a subtle glare and rolled my eyes.
“I’m always quiet. I’m fine though dont worry,” I lied. I always lied to them about myself. Not like they cared anyway. Most of the time our interactions are awkward at best. “It’s loud in this lunchroom.”
“It’s always loud in here,” Fluttershy whispered so quiet that I had to lean a bit to her in order to hear what she said. “Hurts my head.”
“It’s awesome!” Pinkie shouted and I cringed a bit. She was the definition of uncontrollable energy. I swear her blood isn’t actually blood, it’s energy drinks and pop along with cupcakes coursing through her veins. A small dark part of me wants to see what she would be like on drugs. I don’t really know what drugs this world has to be honest. I stayed away from all of that thankfully.
“Derpy is waving at you by the way,” Rainbow nodded her head in the direction of where Derpy was sitting. Lyra, Bon Bon. Vinyl and Octavia were sitting with her eating their own lunches. I glanced over and made eye contact with Derpy and Octavia gave me a faint glare. “Why is that?”
“We are friends,” I explained as I waved back eagerly. I was looking forward to the school day ending, she was coming back over to spend the night after we had a good time hanging out last week. I was really grateful she didn’t tell anyone about me and Cheerilee’s relationship. That sounded kinda bad and misleading in my head now that I think about it. If I tell anyone else, I’m definitely not telling the others that way. I’ll have to come up with a way less creepy way of saying she’s my mother. The others at my table looked at each other curiously.
“When did that happen?” Rarity asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Last week. Why?” I asked absentmindedly as I went back to my salad.
“Just didn’t think you talked to anyone except us,” Rarity admitted as I made eye contact with Mom sitting at a table. It was her turn for lunch room duty but I overheard she was going to be doing it for the rest of the year. I had a sneaking suspicion I might be the cause of her volunteering for it. I gave a sigh.
“I was awful,” I grumbled.
“You were a bitch,” Rainbow agreed. Fluttershy let out an eep and Rarity glared at her.
“Rainbow Dash!” Applejack elbowed her.
“What? She was! The key word is was! Not anymore!” Rainbow explained as she rubbed her side. “I’m getting you back for that.”
“She’s right. I was a bitch to everyone,” I agreed sullenly. I recoiled as a blob of potato salad was launched and landed on my shirt.
“Gawd damn it. Ah worked mah ass off on that to be eaten, not launched like a missile!” Applejack fumed.
“Lovely,” I grumbled and stood up. Hopefully I can get to the bathroom and clean it off. More importantly, hopefully the bathroom is empty. “Take care of my tray please.” At one point in my life, the word please would be completely foreign to me. I started walking away and Micro Chips stuck out his leg. I faceplanted and let out a groan as a bunch of people laughed. I gave another faint groan as I pushed my self up and Mom was speed walking over to us and I gulped. I’ve never seen her with that angry expression before. Kinda scary to be honest. I hope I never have to see it again.
“Get up now and go to the office, Micro Chips. I saw all of that. Don’t make me drag you there,” Mom snapped. For a flicker of a second, I felt bad for him. I would hate to be on the receiving end of Cheerilee’s anger. That quickly went away as I darted to the bathroom. Thankfully it was empty. I've been getting lucky with that surprisingly. I stared into my reflections eyes.
“Fuck that hurt,” I grumbled as I reached for a paper towel.
“Want some help?” Derpy asked and I yelped in surprise, jumping a bit. I didn’t even hear her coming in the bathroom. That girl is scarily stealthy when she wants to be.
“Uh sure,” I admitted as I turned around. I raised an eyebrow when I saw Lyra with her. “What does she want?” I immediately got tense in case I had to fight my way out. Derpy rolled her eyes as she wiped my shirt off with a towel.
“She thinks you still have anger issues so she came with to watch I guess,” Derpy grumbled. “I told her to stay but she can be annoyingly stubborn.”
“Determined not stubborn,” Lyra spoke up as she watched with her arms folded across her chest. Derpy let out a long drawn out sigh.
“Stubborn,” Derpy pointed out. Lyra rolled her own eyes and stuck her tongue out at Derpy. “Alright done.”
“Is she okay?” Mom stepped into the bathroom and gave a nervous cough when she saw Lyra. “Hello Lyra.”
“Miss Cheerilee,” Lyra gave a faint nod her way. “Hello.”
“Is Sunset okay?” Cheerilee focused on Derpy.
“Yeah. Just got done cleaning up her shirt and she has no injuries from her fall,” Derpy said distastefully. “Still mad at him for tripping her by the way.”
“Yeah that was a tad uncalled for,” Lyra admitted. I stared at her in shock. “What?”
“Nothing. Just never expected you to come to my defense.” Lyra rolled her eyes once again. I thought only Mom and I rolled our eyes more than once in a row. Apparently not.
“I’m a walking surprise,” Lyra smirked.
“You’re a walking something,” Derpy grumbled with a grin. “Is it still okay for me to sleep over tonight?”
“What sleepover?” Lyra asked curiously as she looked between the three of us. I had kinda forgotten she knew I lived with Cheerilee but she didn’t know the rest. Thankfully she kept it quiet. I was a bit hesitant when I found out she knew where I lived, Lyra was a bit of a loud mouth sometimes.
“Me and Sunset are having a sleep over at her house,” Derpy said. “Uh did you want her to know that?” I gave a shrug.
“I don’t care if she knows.”
“Can I come too?” Lyra asked hopefully, looking at me and Cheerilee. Now that I wasn’t expecting.
“Uh I’m not sure. This was supposed to be between just me and Sunset,” Derpy said. Lyra’s face fell slightly to my confusion. Why the hell would she be sad about this? Doesn’t she hate me like the rest of the school? Hell, I hate me. “But if she and Miss Cheerilee says it’s fine, then I’m okay with it.” Derpy smiled at me. I didn’t want to risk hurting Derpy’s feelings. And I could at least have something to do. It would give me something to talk about if the Rainbooms asked me about it at next Friday’s meet up at Sugarcube Corner. If I got lucky, I could convince Derpy to come with so I could have at least one person who wanted me there I could talk to.
“Wow this is a nice house,” Lyra said after she sat down on my floor. She had spent about a half hour exploring. It wasn’t that big, I don’t know what she had been doing that took thirty minutes. I’ve been around Rainbow Dash too much, I could make a dirty joke out of that.
“It’s pretty nice,” Derpy agreed. “I was very surprised when I came here last week.”
“This isn’t the first sleepover?” Lyra asked curiously. We both shook our heads smirking.
“Nah. Last week was our first one. I’m surprised it went well,” I admitted. I had expected it to go way worse in all honesty. I half expected Derpy to change her mind about being friends and leave in the middle. That never happened. She stayed the whole time and even a little into the next day. Why, I don’t know. I’m not that good of company.
“Why do you think that?” Derpy stared at me while Lyra’s eyes scanned the room. I don’t even know what she was looking for to be honest. Maybe something to use against me in school to make me look even worse.
“I’m honestly not sure. Just how I feel,” I admitted. “I’m not that good of company.”
“Better than Lyra,” Derpy grinned. My jaw slightly dropped. I wasn’t expecting her to be mean randomly like that.
“I’m right here ya idiot,” Lyra grumbled and I stared at her with wide eyes.
“Nerd.”
“Obsessed muffin freak.”
“Obsessed freak with a harp on a necklace.”
“It’s a lyre!” I quickly clapped my hands together and the two stared at me.
“Why are you arguing?” I questioned. Lyra and Derpy looked at each other and burst out laughing much to my confusion.
“We’re not actually arguing,” Derpy admitted with a smile.
“It’s how we play around somedays. We both know we’re joking and don’t take any offense. Sometimes friends playfully insult each other,” Lyra agreed. “Me and Bon Bon do it all the time.”
“Friends really do all that?” I’ve seen Applejack and Rainbow go back and forth sometimes. Same with Rarity and Applejack but it seemed real. Maybe I was missing something.
“Of course. Try it!” Derpy encouraged. I looked between them unconvinced before sighing. Might as well give it a try.
“Hey Derpy. Your uh skirt is messed up,” I said and smiled. “How was that? Was that good?” Lyra and Derpy looked at each before Lyra gave a chuckle.
“Not quite. It was a good attempt though.” I gave a sigh and flopped backwards.
“Sorry for messing up your guys fun,” I mumbled. “Carry on.” Derpy gave a long groan that I was honestly surprised she could keep up.
“You didn’t interrupt or mess anything up. Sit up and let’s talk for a bit,” Derpy chided. “Also we can see up your skirt.” I hastily smoothed my skirt and shot up, blushing. Lyra gave a snort of laughter.
“Got ya. Prwank!” Lyra snickered and I rolled my eyes.
“Prwank?” I raised an eyebrow and Derpy gave a frustrated sigh.
“Lyra heard it on YouTube and it’s how she’s been saying prank recently. She’s been doing this for about four or five months now,” Derpy explained. “It’s very..... Interesting to say the least.”
“It’s my new favorite word!” Lyra exclaimed as she stood up and stepped to a poster. “You like Aerosmith?” She sounded surprised at that.
“Uhm yes,” I admitted. “Yes I do. Why?” Lyra turned around and stared at me intensely.
“Favorite song?”
“Now you’ve gone and done it,” Derpy whispered and dodged a pillow with surprising agility that I didn’t expect from her.
“Uh rag doll, love in an elevator, dream on, livin on the edge, janies got a gun and I don’t wanna miss a thing. Why?” I asked again. Lyra beamed at me and I raised an eyebrow.
“I love Aerosmith! Janies got a gun is the best one,” Lyra grinned. I didn’t expect this from the girl who played the lyre and liked classical music. I suppose Aerosmith could be considered classic rock but still. Not something I’d see her listening to.
“Uh don’t you play the lyre?” I pointed out.
“Yeah, and?” Lyra raised her own eyebrow.
“Didn’t think rock was something you liked,” I answered. “Doesn’t seem like it would go with your personality.”
“I didn’t think you would like Metallica but you do,” Lyra pointed at my Metallica poster.
“Point taken.” Lyra sat back down.
“So. What’s your world like?” She suddenly asked eagerly.
“Uh good? Pretty cool. I haven’t been there in years,” I admitted.
“Ever miss home?” Derpy asked quietly. I gave a quick nod.
“I really miss my tail. And my magic. My warm coat was amazing. And don’t get me started on the hayburgers and hayfries,” I grinned at the memory.
“Uhm what?” Lyra raised an eyebrow. “The hell is a hayburger?”
“In Equestria, I’m a unicorn pony. We don’t eat meat so we make our food from hay. I also like flowers. Daisies are my favorite,” I explained. The two looked confused.
“Interesting,” Derpy mused. “I’m friends with a horse.” I gave her a dirty look and narrowed my eyes.
“Excuse me? What did you just call me?” I demanded.
“Uh a horse?” Derpy edged away closer to Lyra.
“Don’t call me that. It’s Equestria’s equivalent of whore. I’m a pony.” Derpy and Lyra’s eyes went wide.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to call you a whore,” Derpy mumbled. I sighed and took a deep breath.
“I’m sorry for scaring you. It’s okay. Just uh please don’t call me it again.”
“So uh what do you do in your free time?” Lyra asked quickly in an attempt to change the topic. I gave a shrug.
“I read. I draw. I sleep. Watch TV. Eat. Do homework,” I answered quickly. I had already recited my answers.
“Ooh. What do you read?” Derpy eagerly asked and I pointed to my math and history book. “You read our school books?”
“Mhm. I read actual books too. Mainly fiction and science. Action is good too,” I replied.
“How do you even read a math book?” Lyra demanded. I opened the book and a bunch of sheets of paper with numbers and solved problems tumbled out.
“I read the questions and answer them. That way when we get to the page in class, I’m already ahead. And my weekend is free to do nothing,” I sighed. “Why are you even talking to me? Don’t you hate me like everyone else?” Lyra gave a sigh and a serious expression formed on her face.
“I saw this coming. To be honest, I don’t know. I’m mainly looking out for Derpy in case you get angry with her but she wants us to get to know you. You never really did anything to me or Bonnie except sabotaging me at the Fall Formal once. Granted there was the time you sabotaged the bake sale Bon Bon and Pinkie had going on but meh. Mainly I want to see if you truly changed as well,” Lyra focused on me intensely. “So far, I like what I see and believe you regret what happened. Me and Derpy are the easiest to convince. Octavia won’t be the same. She’s annoyingly stubborn in her ways. I also know you’re depressed because of the medicine bottles on your nightstand. Depression is a bitch, I know.”
“I’m trying but everyone hates me. I hate me. I don’t deserve friends or forgiveness,” I sighed. “I was a cruel bitch to all of you.” Derpy gave me a disapproving frown.
“You shouldn’t call yourself that,” she chided. “You’re a better person now. If the others can’t see it, screw them.” Lyra slowly nodded in agreement.
“I’m with Derps on this one. Fuck the others opinions. If Derpy says you’re okay, the whole school should believe her. She’s practically the definition of wholesomeness. I trust her. It’s gonna be a bit weird for a bit saying I trust Sunset Shimmer but I do,” Lyra abandoned her serious expression and gave me a warm smile.
“Pizzas here girls! Come and get it!” Mom shouted up the stairs.
“I’ll meet you two downstairs if you want to keep talking,” Derpy announced and stood up. She had been quietly watching and listening to our interaction this whole time. Lyra gave a nod as our blonde haired friend stepped out of the room. We sat quietly in the room for a few moments.
“Anything else you want to know? I’m kinda starving,” Lyra admitted.
“What does this make us? I’m not the greatest at reading people.” Lyra rubbed her chin and stared at my Hollywood Undead poster.
“We can be whatever you want us to be.”
“That could be taken in a very confusing way if anyone overheard it,” I gave one of my rare smiles. Lyra gave a chuckle and patted my shoulder. I relaxed after I was certain she wasn’t going to hit me.
“Girls? It’s one pm,” I pushed open the door and gave a faint smile. Lyra, Derpy and Sunset were asleep in a pile surrounded by empty two liter pop bottles and three empty boxes of pizza. I honestly didn’t know anyone could go through three large pizzas. At least I ordered five last night. I stepped into the room and shut the TV off. They were so loud last night. How I got any form of sleep, I have no idea. I was also kinda surprised Derpy and Lyra’s parents agreed to letting them stay over, considering Christmas is next week and all. When I was a kid, my parents wanted us at home to spend time with family. Christmas was one of the few times our parents were decent.
“Wake up Sunset,” I knelt down and gently shook her. She gave a groan and rubbed her eyes.
“What time is it? And what is on me?” Sunset grumbled. I was in dangerous territory right here. Sunset without her coffee is dangerous. I’ve learned to just be quiet in the mornings and wait until she decides she’s had enough coffee to talk to me. Typically requires at least three to four cups. Luckily, I made enough for everyone in the house.
“It’s one pm. Lyra and Derpy are on you in response to your second question,” I grinned. Sunset grumbled incoherent words.
“Get off me. Now please,” Sunset mumbled as gave Lyra’s head a gentle shove off her lap. “I want my coffee.” Lyra fell backwards onto Derpy and snored. The ptsd that sound brought was insane. I’ve heard her snoring in other teachers classes so many times. The walls were somewhat thin between classrooms so we could sometimes hear the other class. Let’s just say, Lyra can snore very loud. She does pretty much everything loud to be honest. Talks loud and sleeps loud.
“She can sleep anywhere, can’t she?” Derpy giggled as she cracked open her eyes and yawned. “I’m a very light sleeper.” I smirked and watched Lyra’s leg twitch as she let out another loud snore. “How Bon Bon can sleep next to that whenever we have sleepovers, I’ll never know.”
“I have breakfast made. And plenty of coffee for Sunset. She can’t start her day without at least four cups,” I smirked at Sunset. She gave a groan as she stood up.
“I hate Canterlot winters. So bipolar. It’s not even like this back in Equestria. At least back home can control the weather back home. Here you can’t.” I gave a low chuckle at that.
“Only in Canterlot can it go from being warm to snowing to rain and back in a month during the winter,” I agreed. “We have pancakes and sausages for breakfast.” Sunset eagerly shot out of the room. She surprised me by how much she loved my cooking. Mom and Dad certainly didn’t.
“I’ll be here,” Derpy waved and grunted as Lyra moved in her sleep, pinning her down. “I didn’t know Lyra weighed this much. I should get her a gym membership for Christmas.” I have a chuckle and patted her on the shoulder.
“I’ll bring you a plate and save Lyra some breakfast. I really need to get to the kitchen before Sunset eats all of it herself.” Where she put all of that food, I don’t know. She literally never gains weight. She’s as thin as a toothpick. At first I thought she had been making herself throw up after wards as a depression related issue or throwing it away but after investigating, I found out she had been doing none of that. She had been surprisingly giving it to the homeless people around the corner so we started making extra and I’ve been helping her give food out. I was pretty proud of her for that.
“Thanks Cheerilee. I’ll try to wake up Lyra, the goddess of sleep and snoring.”
“So my parents texted me and said I can stay another night. So did Derpy’s. Is it okay?” Lyra asked hopefully and I rubbed my chin.
“Pleaseeee,” Sunset begged and I looked at her. Now I was even more inclined to say yes. She was finally coming out of her shell a bit and making friends, why should I cut it short? Especially if she was getting along with Lyra this well. I glanced at the clock. Seven pm. Not too late.
“I’m fine with it. What do you all wanna do?” I asked. The three girls gave excited grins and highfived each other.
“Movies?” Lyra offered.
“Video games?” Sunset added.
“Pillow fights and building a fort?” Derpy suggested. The two girls looked at her with raised eyebrows. “What? I like having fun.” Lyra gave a shrug.
“I’m down. Hopefully you’re fine with losing you two.” Sunset gave a scoff at that.
“I’m trained in battle magic back home. A pillow fight may not have magic, but it is still a form of combat. You both will lose,” Sunset smirked. I was slightly nervous now. I didn’t want have to replace any pillows. Just because I had the money and could afford it doesn’t mean I wanted to replace them.
“Have fun you three. Don’t break anything please. And be careful to not hurt each other,” I nodded as I sat down in my favorite chair. This chair was my favorite place to nap. Me and Sunset stole it from each other often. The girls nodded before running upstairs and I closed my eyes, drifting off to sleep.
“Cheerilee? Cheerilee, wake up please.” I opened my eyes and stared into Lyra’s worried eyes. I rubbed my eyes and sat up.
“Hmm what’s up Lyra?” I mumbled as I stretched out a bit.
“You’ve been sleeping for three or four hours now. We hate to wake you, but Sunset just left and didn’t tell us where she was going. We asked but she was very evasive. Said she needed to get some money,” Lyra said worriedly and my eyes shot open even more. Now I was awake and listening.
“Did either of you see which was she was going?” I asked as I got to my feet hurriedly.
“She went left. She just left five minutes ago so she can’t be too far away,” Derpy answered with an equally worried expression. I slipped my boots on and grabbed my keys and purse.
“Let’s go girls.” Derpy and Lyra looked between each other before following me out the door and to the car.
“Where are we going?” Lyra asked as she got in the backseat.
“We’re gonna follow her and get answers,” I answered determinedly. I put the car in reverse and backed out onto the street before driving forward.
“She’s right there,” Derpy pointed from the driver seat. Sure enough, Sunset was walking down the street with a heavy coat and boots.
“I don’t like how quickly we got into a bad area. Vinyl lives around here and it’s pretty rough,” Lyra muttered. “Crazy how much of a difference several blocks can make.” We watched Sunset stop near a sign and broken light. I shut my cars lights off and pulled in behind a parked car and shut it off. Sunset unzipped her coat and dropped it to the ground.
“Well that’s uhm revealing,” Lyra spoke after a moment. Derpy blushed before nodding her agreement. I just stared in shock at Sunset’s very revealing skirt and top.
“What’s she doing here?” Derpy finally found her voice, blushing even harder as Sunset struck a pose. I had a bad feeling I knew exactly what was happening as a car stopped next to her. I quietly turned the car on and rolled down a window to listen.
“Hey there,” Sunset purred in a sultry voice as she leaned over the car. “What can I do for you?”
“How much?” A gruff voice asked. Sunset gave a faint laugh.
“You know my prices. Fifty for oral, one hundred for fingering and toys. I don’t do sex so don’t ask like you did the past few times,” Sunset smirked. “Though I could be convinced to change my mind for such a loyal customer. It would cost you a lot though.”
“No way is this happening. Not a word about this to anyone you two” I grumbled as I stepped out of the car. Lyra and Derpy gave me worried nods. “Sunset Shimmer!” She flinched and stood up, covering herself with a blush. I stormed up to her and the car.
“Woah who the hell is that?” The evidently older man demanded. I'd guess he's in his thirties with his blue and grey hair.
“I’m her mom and she’s a minor. Get the fuck out of here!” I growled. He gave a hasty nod and sped off.
“What are you doing here?” Sunset asked as she grabbed her coat and wrapped herself with it. I glared at her and she shrunk back.
“What am I doing here? What the hell are you doing here?” I demanded.
“What does it look like? Making money,” Sunset answered with an ashamed look. I was too angry to care right now.
“Get in the car now. You are in so much trouble young lady.”
I sighed as I rubbed my forehead. I still really couldn’t believe what I had seen. I was angry as hell don’t get me wrong. Part of me is angry at myself for not asking how Sunset had made money without a job and part of me is angry at her for still doing it. I would have helped her find a safer, better job. I was currently trying to work up the courage to go to her room and talk to her. The car ride home was quiet between the two of us. The only people who really spoke was Lyra and Derpy talking to each other. They weren’t trying to ignore Sunset, they were just really stunned and trying to work their feelings out on it. At least they promised to not tell a soul about what they saw. Right when we got home, I sent Sunset to her room immediately and that’s where she’s been since. I’m not a cruel person, I made sure to bring her meatloaf with potatoes and water. I was kinda surprised she asked to try more types of meat, considering where she comes from but eh. Weirder things have happened and trust me, I’ve seen some weird things. I grabbed a small glass and a bottle of whiskey, pouring me a tiny amount in the glass and tossing it back. I don’t drink often but I had a feeling for this conversation, I’d need it. I quickly hid the whiskey bottle and tried to think of other chores I needed to do.
“You’re just stalling, Cheerilee. Go up there and talk to her,” I mumbled to myself. I gave a sigh and slowly worked my way up the stairs while trying to figure out what to say. “Well, gotta figure it out quick because I’m at her door.” Her door was decorated with a red and orange sun decal and a Hollywood Undead sticker. I paused and knocked on the door, it opening slightly and I walked inside. “Sunset?”
“Hi,” she mumbled from her pillow and I sat down next to her.
“We have to talk.”
“I know,” Sunset rolled over and stared at the ceiling. She had changed into her pajamas since I last saw her thankfully. I need to remember to confiscate her clothes she had been wearing. I’ll be damned if she’s keeping them.
“I’ll cut to the chase. What on earth made you think selling yourself was good idea?” She flinched and I immediately regretted it. Okay, maybe that was a little bit too direct of me.
“Do you want the truth?” Sunset sighed.
“Preferably yes,” I admitted. “It won’t make me any less mad but it might help tomorrow after I’ve slept.”
“Okay so we are on Christmas break right?” Sunset asked.
“Right,” I nodded.
“And we’re going to your sisters in a few days correct?”
“Correct,” I raised an eyebrow. I didn’t know where she was going with this. Sunset let out a long sigh.
“So I needed money to get everyone gifts and such. And then Lyra becoming friends with me gave me a panic attack about it. At first, I only did this to make money for food and to buy clothes and such. I didn’t know much about this world but I did know that attractiveness sells. It’s the exact same back home. When I first came here, I only had a handful of bits that I uh let’s just say borrowed from the royal vault. Don’t worry about them finding out about it, they have trillions of bits in there. They won’t notice fifty missing. Anyway, yeah that’s the whole story,” Sunset fell backwards onto her bed. “Especially with it being next week, that just sent my panic attack even higher.”
“Why wouldn’t you just ask me for money? Or ask me to help you get a job? There’s so many places that hire high schoolers. My first job was at a grocery store. All you had to do is talk to me Sunset,” I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose.
“Because I was embarrassed. How can I get you something using your own money? That doesn’t seem I don’t know, fair I guess to me.”
“I’m trying real hard right now to make that make sense to me. After next week, we are getting you a job. A real job. Have you had sex with anyone? Do I need to get you checked at a hospital?” I asked. I really hated even asking that to be honest. I was a bit uncomfortable. Sunset shook her head and turned a bright shade of red.
“No. I’m a uh virgin still. I’ve never slept with any of my customers. It’s come close when they offered a thousand for it. I didn’t know people blew that kind of money on people,” Sunset admitted while I let out a sigh of relief. “So I just did other things. I’m really good at them.” Now it was my turn to blush.
“Sunset. I could have gone my entire life without knowing that, thank you,” I brushed my hair aside. I really could live my entire life happily without knowing the details of my daughters sex life. Then again, she’s technically still a minor so it’s my job to educate her on the topic. Now I know how Aunt Cherry Jubilee felt when she gave me and my sisters the talk. “Do you know how dangerous what you were doing was? You could have been killed or kidnapped or worse. We are still going to the hospital regardless tomorrow when we do our errands. Just to be safe.”
“What’s worse than being killed or kidnapped?” Sunset asked and her eyes slightly widened when I gave her a look. “Oh.”
“Mhm,” I nodded. “Dangerous.” Sunset groaned and her head fell into her hands.
“Derpy was right to call me a whore. I am one,” she grumbled.
“She called you what? When did this happen?” I demanded. I had always seen the grey girl as friendly, not mean.
“It was an accident. She called me a whorse instead of a pony and in Equestria, a whorse means whore. It’s tricky,” she explained. “I am one evidently.”
“You are not a whore. You did what you had to do to survive. A very stupid choice of work but we all do things we have to do to survive,” I rubbed her shoulder and sighed. “You are being punished though. I won’t turn you over to the police obviously but I can ground you. I’m taking your phone and laptop for the next three weeks. And tomorrow, we can go get gifts for everyone and I’ll help you find stuff for my sisters.”
“Why aren’t you mad at me? Throwing me out?” Sunset demanded.
“Oh I’m very mad at you. And myself for not asking about how you made money. And I wouldn’t throw you out. That’s ridiculous,” I scoffed. Sunset looked out the window at the snow starting to fall again.
“Do you still love me?” I had to strain to hear her.
“Are you insane? Of course I do. Just because of this doesn’t mean I won’t love you any less. I’m supposed to guide you and help you make good decisions. I’ll let you keep your phone for the rest of the night but tomorrow morning, I’m taking it.”
“Okay. That’s fair.” I stood up and walked to the door. “Can you stay with me? I’m cold.” I turned around and nodded.
“Any pain while urination, lower abdominal pain, vaginal discharge or bleeding in between periods?” Nurse Sweetheart asked as she overlooked her clipboard. Sunset sat on the hospital bed, looking around the room with a mixture of curiosity and nervousness. I sat in the chair across from her watching. Even though she swore up and down she had no stds, I still wanted to make sure she didn’t. And if she did, this way we could at least get ahead of it.
“No. None of that,” Sunset shook her head. “What are those symptoms of?”
“Chlamydia. And good that you don’t have any of those symptoms. Any thick, cloudy or bloody discharge?” The slightly overweight nurse asked.
“Nope.”
“Any pain or a burning sensation when urining?”
“None.”
“Heavy menstrual bleeding or bleeding between periods?” She asked. Sunset sighed and gave her a frown.
“Isn’t that similar to the first question you asked?” Sunset raised an eyebrow. “I already said no to that one. Why ask twice?”
“Hospital procedure. I have to ask,” the nurse apologized and looked at her expectantly. Sunset let our a long sigh.
“No, no bleeding. Just like the first time I answered your question,” she grumbled.
“Good, good. Another painful bowel movements or scratching?” She asked with her pen resting on the paper.
“No,” Sunset shook her head and the nurse wrote down her answer.
“Okay so no symptoms of gonorrhea so that’s good. Next up is Trichomoniasis. Any clear, white, greenish or yellowish vaginal discharge?” Sunset gave her a disgusted look and turned green.
“That is absolutely disgusting sounding. No I have none of that. Bring me a bucket to vomit in if these questions continue to be as gross as that one was,” Sunset growled. The nurse chuckled and slid a trash can over.
“Alrighty. These are pretty gross and uncomfortable questions, I know. But they’re necessary to make sure your safe and healthy,” the nurse smiled. “Any strong vaginal odor, painful urination or vaginal itching or irritation?”
“No, no and no.”
“Okay, perfect.”
“Why did you ask if I had gonorrhea? Isn’t that when my eyes get red or something?” Sunset asked curiously.
“It’s a bacterial infection. Most sexually transmitted diseases are. Trichomoniasis is a microscopic, one called parasite. Gonorrhea can be received by giving someone oral sex,” Nurse Sweetheart explained. “We’ve already gone over HIV, hepatitis, syphilis, HPV and genital herpes. You’ve said no to all those symptoms which is very good. I just need to take some blood.” She held up a small piece of plastic. “This is a fingerprick machine. It’s gonna be a uncomfortable feeling for a second. A small needle is gonna poke your finger and draw blood for us to test.”
“Okay,” Sunset cautiously held out a finger and Sweetheart pressed it against her finger and pressed a button. “Ow.” The nurse dropped the stick from the machine into a bottle and closed it.
“Great job,” she smiled. “Now I need a mouth swab. Open up please.” She picked up a swab and Sunset rolled her eyes before complying. Nurse Sweetheart did a quick swab and dropped it into a separate jar. “Just one more thing. You already gave me a urine sample when you first got here. Just need a cervix swab. You can leave the room, Cheerilee if you want.” I gave a nod and quickly stood up.
“You’re gonna do great. We can get ice cream after this,” I reassured Sunset as I stepped out of the room and softly closed the door. I started pacing back and forth before I heard a startled yelp come from Sunset’s room. The nurse stuck her head out.
“It’s done. You can come back inside now,” she smiled. Well that was fast. I turned around and walked back in.
“If you ever come near me with another swab again, I’m shoving it so far down your throat. Do you understand me lady?” Sunset fumed. She had been grumpy all morning because she didn’t sleep well. I blame that on my tossing and turning. I’m a pretty annoying person to sleep next to. I move around a lot sometimes. The nurse gave a smile and looked completely unphased by Sunset’s threat. She probably got them a lot.
“She’s just doing her job Sunset,” I chided.
“I know,” Sunset stood up. “Can we leave now please? I want to get these errands down so I can relax in bed with chocolate and ice cream.”
“You’re free to go. We will call you when our test results come back,” Nurse Sweetheart nodded. We stepped out of the room and started walking to the waiting room where Derpy and Lyra were sitting. They had for some reason insisted on coming but weren’t allowed in the room because they weren’t family or related to her. Even if they were, I wouldn’t have allowed them in the room. It was a private matter.
“What was that yelp we heard?” Lyra asked curiously. Sunset gave a shudder.
“Who do you wanna do first?” I asked as we walked through the mall. “Lyra, Derpy, Cherry Berry, Berry Punch or Ruby Pinch?”
“Uh Derpy. She was my second friend,” Sunset stepped away from a mannequin. I raised an eyebrow.
“Who was your first friend?” I asked curiously. Sunset gave me a smirk.
“You of course. Can you believe the nurse gave me a sucker and a sticker? What does she think I am, five?” Sunset grumbled. She ripped the wrapper off and shoved it in her pocket, sticking the sucker in her mouth. “Hmm. Not bad.” I gave a chuckle.
“Where to?” I asked. Sunset looked around before pointing to a stuffed animal store.
“She loves plushies. I’m looking for a giant stuffed sea lion. They’re her favorite animals,” Sunset explained as we started walking inside.
“How much money do you have?” I asked curiously.
“About two thousand or so,” she said casually as she picked up a stuffed walrus.
“And you went out last night for money? Two thousand is a decent amount for a teen,” I said in awe.
“I had a panic attack like I said. I wasn’t really thinking,” Sunset sighed as she set it down. Her eyes lit up. “There! A giant ass sea lion!” She bounded to it and picked it up. I was tempted to tell her to not cuss but decided against it. This was the happiest I’ve seen her all day. Derpy and Lyra had to go with their parents, much to Lyra’s frustration. Made getting them gifts easier though. “This is the one. I need to get playing cards for Lyra. And then it’s just your sisters and you left. "
“Berry Punch likes video games, mainly gta. She likes wine glasses, Alabama and comedy movies,” I smiled. “Cherry Berry loves aviation. You could get her a model kit and she would be happy. She also likes Dr.Who and Gotham. Ruby Pinch is five so pretty much any toys would do. Berry Punch told me Ruby was obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine and building blocks recently.” Sunset nodded as we moved to the check out lane.
“Children are so much easier to get gifts for than adults,” she mused as the cashier scanned the stuffed animal.
“One hundred and fifty dollars please,” she intoned in a monotone voice. I vaguely recognized her. She was always with Pinkie Pie at school carrying a pet rock. Sunset nodded and handed her the cash. I tried hard to not think about who’s hands have touched those bills.
“Thanks have a good day,” the girl spoke as we walked out, Sunset carrying the sea lion in both hands.
“We should probably put that in the car first and then come back inside. It’ll be a lot to carry,” I decided. Sunset gave me a slow nod.
Groaning, I rolled over and opened my eyes, glancing in the mirror on my wall. Holy shit, I looked awful. My fiery red hair was matted from rolling around all night. Didn’t get much sleep. Not sure why. Surprisingly, I’m very excited to finally meet my aunts and cousin. Mom has been talking about them for the past few weeks, telling me about them and some stories. I’m trying hard to not pick favorites but I think Aunt Berry Punch might be my favorite based on the stories Mom has told me. We both have anger issues, she used to speak before thinking, acts impulsively and well, that doesn’t really sound too far off from me. Don’t get me wrong, Aunt Cherry Berry sounds awesome too. But she was always the by the books one Mom said. Maybe I just naturally get attracted to rebellious people like I used to be back in the Dark Ages.
I slipped out of bed and got my legs caught in my blankets, faceplanting.
“Fuck my life,” I muttered. “That really hurt.” I hope Mom didn’t hear me cussing. She was pretty strict on no cussing in the house. Sure, she understood sometimes it slipped out or cussed herself if the situation was serious enough. I quickly learned that if Mom is cussing, it means two things. I should be worried and that I should be running in the opposite direction from whatever has her angry. Not because I was scared of her of course. I just wanted to avoid the drama. That’s been my goal recently, avoid drama at all costs. I was grateful to be on winter break so I could avoid the student body.
“Ready to go?” The door creaked open and Mom peaked in. “It’s a two hour drive and it’s three in the afternoon. If we wanna beat the traffic, we got to leave now.”
“Yeah,” I mumbled and untangled myself from the sheets. “Let me get a few cups of coffee or five.” Mom chuckled and pushed the door open the rest of the way.
“Your hair is a mess Sunset. Are you just now waking up?” She raised an eyebrow as she tossed me my hair brush. I caught it midair surprisingly. I thought I’d have caught it with my face. I grumbled as I started brushing my hair and winced as I fixed a knot.
“Yes. I have no school so I figured I’d sleep in. I love my bed. It’s one of my best friends,” I smirked at her confused expression.
“That works. You’re all packed right?”
“Mhm. Everything I need is already in the suitcase under my bed,” I set the hair brush down and groped under the bed, pulling my suitcase out. “Tada. Laptop, charger and clothes.”
“Why do you need your laptop?” Mom asked with a raised eyebrow.
“To watch movies while we are there,” I answered. I had kinda figured that was a given. Why else would I bring my laptop with?
“Yeah no. Berry has a TV at her house. Besides, don’t you want to get to know your family? This is the first time you’ve ever met them,” Mom asked. I gave a sigh.
“I do yes. But I’m nervous. What if they don’t like me?” I asked hesitantly. I wasn’t that good at opening up about my problems.
“They already do. Don’t worry about a thing. You finish waking up, I’ll take your suitcase to the car. We’re taking the Tahoe today by the way. Decent in the snow,” Mom took my laptop and it’s charger out, setting it on my desk before zipping it shut and carrying it outside my room. “There’s breakfast from this morning in the fridge still. Derpy dropped off some muffins again.” Derpy made the best muffins. They’re better than sex, according to Lyra. Apparently she randomly dropped off muffins at all her friends houses Lyra says. That girl is scarily nice, I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop. No one is one hundred percent nice. There’s always another side to people.
“What flavor?” I called out as I slipped on a orange skirt with my cutie mark on the side.
“Blueberry,” Mom called back. Now I was definitely getting a muffin. I love blueberries and anything with them in it. Blueberries are God’s gift to us all. I slipped a white bra and matching shirt, stepping out of the room and stretching.
“I’ll just grab a few muffins and we can leave,” I told Mom. She gave a nod as she carried her suitcase to the suv. We were staying for the remainder of winter break. This was going to be my first Christmas with actual people. I typically just stayed in a shelter for Christmas and got stuff like socks and a shirt. Thankfully I’m past that. Shelters are some pretty rough places depending on where you go. I grabbed the case of muffins and grabbed my jacket hanging off the coat hanger by the door. “Do you have the keys to the house?” Mom nodded and held up her keys, jingling them. I gave a nod of my own as we locked the door, shutting it behind us. We sat in the car and Mom started it, pulling out to the street.
“Here’s the aux cord if you wanna play some music,” she passed me the cord and I gave a grin. I personally always listen to Hollywood Undead in the morning. Helps wake me up. I plugged it into my phone and turned my favorite Hollywood Undead song on.
”🎵Now I see that mother fucker writing on the wall. When you see J3T thirty deep he’s down to brawl. Fuck those haters I see, cause I hate that you breathe, I see you duck, you little punk, you little fucking disease.🎵” Mom quickly yanked the aux cord put and gave me a dirty look.
“No Sunset. Just.....no!” She focused back to driving. I probably should have played more appropriate music.
“Sorry. I got a cleaner song for you.” Mom cautiously passed the aux cord back to me and I plugged it in, searching for a new song.
”🎵When I was fourteen I was fallin’ fast for a blue-eyed girl in my homeroom class, tryin’ to find the courage to ask her out was like tryin’ to get oil from a waterspout. What she would have said I can’t say. I never did ask and she moved away. But I learned somethin’ from my blue-eyed girl. Sink or swim you gotta give it a whirl. Life’s a dance you learn as you go, sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow. Don’t worry about what you don’t know. Life’s a dance you learn as you go🎵.” Mom gave a faint smile.
“Are you sure they will like me?” I asked as we pulled onto a suburb road. I looked out the window and admired the decent sized houses. They were a little bit bigger than ours but just as nice.
“For the one hundredth time Sunset, yes they will like you. They already do based on what I told you,” Mom sighed and I detected a bit of frustration in her voice. I may or may not have asked that same question a lot on the trip here. Well, when I wasn’t sleeping of course. Road trips made me sleepy. The movements of the car helped me sleep.
“Sorry for frustrating you. I’m just nervous,” I admitted. Mom gave a short laugh as she pulled into a driveway.
“You don’t say. I’m not frustrated with you, just tired. Been a long drive,” she opened the door and stretched. I quickly followed and yawned, looking around curiously. In front of me was a nice dark purple house with an large tree in the front yard. In the backyard, I could vaguely make out a swing set. It was a fairly decent sized house like all the others on the block. I came from a poor family in Equestria so being in an area like this made me slightly feel out of place. A sign with grapes and a strawberry hung above the door. It slowly opened and a pink women with yellow hair rushed out the door.
“Little sis! It’s been forever!” She squeezed Mom in a hug and Mom grunted as she returned it.
“Hey Cherry. It has been a while,” Mom groaned as her sister let go of her. “Thanks. I was running out of oxygen.” Cherry Berry rolled her eyes with a grin.
“No you weren’t. Did you bring Sunset along? Where is she?” Cherry Berry looked around as I tried to hide behind the wide black Tahoe.
“No I left her at home,” Mom replied dryly with an eye roll. Cherry Berry stopped looking around and paused.
“That sucks. I was hoping to finally meet her,” Cherry sighed. Mom gave a laugh and sighed
“We really need to teach you sarcasm. You’re the oldest of me and Berry but you still don’t get it. She’s hiding behind the car, acting all shy.” Cherry walked around the car and made eye contact with me, her face lighting up.
“Oh my GOSH! Hi!” She hugged me and I let out a startled gasp. She could give strong ass hugs. I’d say she was giving Derpy a run for her money in that department.
“Uhm hi,” I managed to get out despite the effort she giving to kill me via hugs. Not a bad way to go in my opinion. She suddenly squeezed me tighter if that was even possible and I swear I heard a bone crack. I made eye contact with Mom who was laughing and I mouthed the words “save me” to her.
“Alright sis. You’re gonna smother the girl and kill her. I’d rather you not kill my daughter thanks,” Mom walked to us and tried prying her off.
“Alright alright. It’s good to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot of good things,” Cherry let go and gave me a sheepish smile.
“Uhm that’s good,” my eyes flicked around nervously. Sure, I was happy to meet my family but was still a tad nervous.
“We have a lot of catching up to do. And I have a lot to learn about you Sunset. I’ll help carry your guys bags in,” Cherry grinned.
“Where’s Berry?” Mom asked as she looked around. “Thought she would have been out here too.”
“She’s playing with Ruby upstairs at the moment. Ruby really wanted her to play trains with her,” Cherry explained as she opened the trunk. “Wow. You guys pack light. Are you sure you all have enough clothes in there?”
“Yes sister. It’s not hard to shove a week’s worth of clothes into a suitcase,” Mom rolled her eyes. “Ready to meet the others?” I let out a long sigh.
I sat in a chair watching quietly as Mom talked to Cherry and Ruby, drinking a hot chocolate Cherry had forced into my hands as soon we stepped inside.
“So you’re the girl who won my sister over.” I flinched and stared at the purple women leaning on the doorway giving me a cold look that made me slightly uncomfortable.
“Uh I guess I am?” I asked hesitantly. She rolled her eyes.
“So what makes you think you deserve to be part of the family?” I flinched again and looked down. I was right that not everyone would like me.
“Berry Punch! Be nice to her,” Mom gave her a dirty look.
“What? I was just playing around with the kid. I wasn’t actually serious. I’m not mean,” she scoffed. She abandoned her cold look and gave me a big grin before sitting next to me. “Scoot over please.”
“Uh okay.”
“Sorry for coming off as serious. I was just fucking around with ya,” Berry gave me another grin.
“Berry Punch! Watch your language,” Mom chided and gave her a dirty look.
“Oh my lord Cheerilee. She’s old enough to be cussed around and cusses herself I bet. Cheerilee always was the serious one,” Berry told me. “Cherry was even worse and is just old.”
“I am not old. I’m only twenty seven!” Cherry gave her a dirty look of her own. Berry gave me a mischievous grin and winked.
“Old. I’m telling ya.”
“Why you brat,” Cherry grumbled before she stood up and walked to the kitchen. “Getting more hot chocolate.” Mom and Berry made eye contact before the two started laughing.
“Am I missing something?” I asked curiously.
“We have our own language in a way. We enjoy teasing each other a lot. Cherry is the oldest, so she gets it the worst,” Mom explained.
“And I’m the youngest so everyone loves me,” Berry smirked. “Because I’m the greatest at everything.”
“Sure you are,” Mom sighed. “Ruby, go say hi to Sunset.” The carnation colored girl gave a nod jumped on the couch before climbing over the end table and sitting between us.
“Hi!” She beamed at the two of us.
“Really, Ruby? Walk over here next time. Don’t climb on our furniture,” Berry chided. I gave her a confused look.
“She’s your daughter? I thought she would have been Aunt Cherry’s daughter.”
“Nah she’s mine. She’s pretty cool. Cherry is too busy with her fruit stand and her balloon ride jobs for meeting people to be honest,” Berry handed Ruby a blue train.
“Train!” She shoved it in my face. “His name is Thomas. Do you want to go play trains upstairs with me?” She gave a hopeful look.
“Uh what does playing trains entail?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Pushing the trains on the track. Using your imagination.” I shrugged and stood up.
“So what exactly do I do here?” I raised an eyebrow and glanced around curiously at the train tracks and the table. A clear plastic bin sat in the corner, full of train and pieces of wood painted to look like trees and other parts of nature. I sat with my legs folded under me while she sat cross-legged on the floor.
“You just play. Have fun. Use your imagination!” Ruby giggled as she placed a train on the tracks and pushed it. “See? James is going to the trainyard to pick up some cargo to deliver.”
“What is he going to do next?” I asked with a smile. I’ve never been all that good with kids, but they loved me for some reason. Back in Equestria, I’d get swarmed by them randomly.
“Uh I don’t know. I didn’t think that far ahead to be honest. I usually just with the flow,” Ruby admitted as she stuck the magnet on the back of the red train to a few train cars. “Choo choo.” I reached into the bin and pulled out a large green train.
“Who’s this?” I asked curiously as I looked at it.
“That’s Henry. He’s a fast train,” Ruby explained. I put him on the track and pushed him back and forth idly.
“Who’s your favorite?” I asked curiously. Ruby’s eyes lit up and she grinned.
“Thomas obviously. The show is named after him, after all! Then you got James and Emily and Percy and Toby the tram, Molly and Lady,” Ruby shouted.
“Who’s Lady?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Lady is a character from the movie Thomas and the Magic Railroad. She was hidden away in the mountains because a evil meanie wanted to destroy her. She’s awesome!” Ruby grinned. “We should watch the movie while you’re here.”
“Maybe. How did you get this franchise?”
“Mom introduced me to it. Apparently she watched it when she was a kid. It’s really funny show. It’s my favorite.” Well, good thing I bought her a bunch of Thomas the Tank engines for Christmas in three days. And a few sets. I may have gone overboard trying to win everyone and Mom over. It sounds stupid as fuck now that I think about it. Well, I can remember that next year.
“Sounds like a good show. Anything else you like?” I asked. She gave a shrug.
“Nah, not really. I like coloring but that’s about it,” she pushed the train off the tracks and feigned horror. “Oh no!” I let out a uncharacteristic giggle at her antics.
“Having fun?” Berry grinned as she rested against the doorframe with her arms folded.
“Yeah. Sunset is asking me about the Thomas the Tank Engine universe. Can we watch the the movie while she’s here pleaseeee?” Ruby begged and put her puppy dog eyes. She really had that skill down pat.
“Yeah sure. Time for dinner you two.”
“What time is it?” Ruby pouted.
“Six pm. You’ve been up here for a few hours playing,” Berry answered. “Might wanna hurry up before Cherry comes up here. She’s way more energetic than me. And people say I’m the wild one. Just wait till I show you the pictures of your mom in highschool wearing a very short cheer leader outfit with a blue bow in her hair. Now that was an interesting day.” She gave a wink at me.
“You better not!” Mom shouted up the stairs. I couldn’t see her but I imagine she was blushing. Berry rolled her eyes before leaning in close to me.
“Stay up after they go to bed and we will talk,” Berry whispered in my ear with a mischievous smirk.
I snuck out the bedroom and opened the door to Moms room slowly, listening to her even breathing and quietly shut it before slipping down the stairs to the living room where Berry was on the couch with a glass of wine reading a book.
“Ah you’re here,” she set her book down and sipped her wine. I sat down across from her on the couch.
“Yeah. You said to come here,” I covered my mouth and yawned. I was pretty tired. I didn’t really stay up late because of Mom’s rules. She was being a bit more lenient for winter break because of the holiday.
“Here’s the picture,” she slid it to me and I stared in shock at it. She had been telling the truth, holy hell.
“Wow. Mom looked so different,” I mumbled.
“So Cheerilee told me you’re having some trouble in school,” Berry said nonchalantly and I got tense.
“Maybe I am,” I answered cautiously. Berry rolled her eyes and held up a hand.
“Don’t get defensive. She mentioned you used to be run the school and have regrets. You can turn the bad into good.” I raised and eyebrow.
“And how’s that?” I asked curiously.
“You remember Ruby Pinch?” Berry nodded upstairs. I gave a nod and she continued. “Let’s just say, I didn’t necessarily consent when I got pregnant with her. I turned a bad thing into something amazing: her.” My eyes widened at the implication.
“Why didn’t you get an abortion?” I asked. Berry gave me a disgusted look.
“I don’t believe in abortion. There’s a lot of families who can’t have kids who would kill to adopt a baby or anything like that. Just give birth, put the baby up for adoption and boom. You’ve made a happy family. After Cheerilee lost her baby, it just made me even happier that I didn’t get one. Made me realize how lucky I was to be able to actually give birth when so many can’t. She was excited to be a mom and then she just lost her sadly. It hurt me and Cherry too. We wanted so badly to be aunts. But what hurt the most was seeing how depressed Cheerilee became. I’ve never seen my sister like that in her life. So I’m glad I never thought about getting rid of Ruby. She’s changed my life for the better,” Berry answered with a sad look. “We never talk about our political beliefs here because me and Cherry would get into fights over it.”
“Mom never talks about what happened. What happened to the guy who you know?” I asked hesitantly. Berry let out a dark chuckle.
“I admitted to Cherry and Cheerilee what happened. They tracked him down and beat the shit out of him. He ran away and moved away after that.” I stared at her in shock. Mom didn’t seem like the type to hurt anyone.
“Mom actually did that? I didn’t see her as the type to fight anyone.” Berry let out another chuckle.
“Nor did I. She got so mad. Hell, according to Cherry, Cheerilee did the most damage. Broke his jaw and everything. Learned real quick to never make her that mad,” Berry smirked. “Heard you were getting bullied too. I have some advice if you want it.” I leaned forward eagerly.
“Sure.”
“Trust no bitch, take no shit. If someone fucks with you, you wait till they swing first. After that, anything you do next is self defense. Pick the biggest person at your school you can find and make them mad. Let them hit you first and then you beat the fucker up. Make that bitch eat concrete. After that, everyone will leave you alone. I’ve learned real fast that people respect strength first hand. I’m not saying go out and rule by fear like you did once. Just don’t roll over and take the abuse. And I know you got hit because I can see you limping slightly. I won’t tell Cheerilee, don’t worry but if it happens again and I see it again, I will tell her. We just want the best for you,” she leaned back and sipped her wine.
“I just don’t want to go back to the old me,” I admitted. Berry rolled her eyes again and groaned.
“Self control is key, Sunset. You seem like a smart kid who can control herself and not cross the line. Just remember to stand up for yourself when necessary,” Berry finished her wine and set the glass down. “I’m going to bed now. I’ll see ya tomorrow. Been nice talking to you and meeting you. Thanks for distracting Ruby so me and my sisters could catch up.” She stood up and patted my shoulder.
“Goodnight Aunt Berry,” I smiled. Inside, I was thinking about what she said. I really didn’t want to tell anyone but maybe she was right. I’d save it as a last resort if it comes to it.
“And then, Ruby was like, “But I want to watch your horror movie mom”. I love my daughter and all, but I naturally said no. I don’t want to stay up all night because she’s having nightmares,” Berry took a sip of her eggnog. “Being a parent is hard. Especially a single parent. At least Minnie is supportive.”
“Minnie?” I asked with a raised eyebrow as I brushed a strand of my fiery hair aside from my eyes.
“Minuette. She’s my girlfriend,” Berry explained. “She’s not here this Christmas because well, she didn’t want to crowd you and make you uncomfortable.”
“I did wonder where Minuette was,” Mom admitted. “I had kinda assumed you two broke up honestly sis.” Berry gave her a dirty look.
“I’m capable of holding a stable relationship Cheerilee. I’m not sixteen again,” Berry scoffed. “I’m an adult and not an idiot.”
“I know that. Sorry for implying and assuming,” Mom held up a hand nervously.
“Wait. You’re gay?” I asked in surprise. All three gave a chuckle.
“I’m bi,” Berry answered between her chuckles. “Both my sisters are straight. Guess I’m the black sheep of the family.” I gave her a confused look.
“Uh you’re not a sheep. You’re a human,” I pointed out.
“It means outcast or reject. My sisters haven’t rejected me or cast me out but our parents did. It also means someone who is different,” Berry explained. “Since I’m the bi one and they are straight, it means I’m the odd one out. What about you?”
“What do you mean?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Ya know. Are you straight, bi, gay?” Berry questioned and Mom stared at me curiously. I didn’t actually know the answer to that. I only dated Flash to be more popular, not because I liked him or actually felt any attraction towards him. Back in Equestria, my first kiss was a mare but that was because I had stolen some alcohol and was drunk when it happened so I don’t know either. I don’t even know who the mare was. I probably should investigate that one day if I ever return to Equestria.
“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “I’ve never really dated anyone.”
“Uh what about Flash Sentry?” Mom asked with a smirk. I let out a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of my head sheepishly.
“I didn’t date him for that. I only did it to be more popular and he helped with that. I feel zero attraction to him. I was a bad person,” I hugged myself and the room got quiet.
“Cherry? Cover Ruby’s ears,” Berry asked and Cherry nodded, complying.
“Uh why?” I asked nervously. Maybe they were gonna kick me out for potentially being a negative influence on Ruby. I didn’t think I did anything wrong around her.
“Fuck that,” Berry sneered. “Old pains are the worst pains. But they are necessary and make us who were are today.”
“While I don’t agree with my youngest sisters choice of words, I agree,” Cherry nodded. “Are you done cussing?”
“Yeah I’m done,” Berry settled back down on the couch. “Just wanted to get that out there.” Cherry gave another nod and removed her hands off Ruby’s ears who had began to get impatient. Young kids didn’t really like to sit still for long periods of time apparently.
“Sure, you made mistakes. We all do it. It’s part of being human and you’re a kid still. We expect you to make mistakes. It’s part of growing up,” Cherry smiled. “We’ve all done it in this room. Especially Berry.”
“Mhm,” Berry agreed, then realized what she had said. “Hey!” All of us gave a quick laugh at that. I could make a hay is for horses joke but I won’t. We decided to not tell them about me being from a different world and me being a unicorn pony. They wouldn’t believe us anyway. It’s such an out there thing to say.
“This is my first Christmas with people who actually care about me,” I admitted. “The homeless shelters weren’t always the greatest places.” Cherry and Berry’s faces grew serious.
“We didn’t want to bring it up or make you uncomfortable,” Cherry admitted. “How long were you homeless?”
“A good few years. I’d say four or five, since I’d been at CHS since freshman year,” I answered. “I didn’t really care about Christmas or gifts to be honest. Sometimes, we got new clothes there at the shelters. Bras, underwear, deodorant and shirts. Typical stuff.”
“What’s a bra?” Ruby asked curiously. Berry patted her on the head with a smile.
“I’ll tell you when you’re older. It’s not something you’ll need for a good few years kid,” Berry smiled. Ruby grunted and pouted.
“But I wanna know now. Sunset knows and she’s awesome. If I know, then I’ll be awesome too,” Ruby explained. I stared at her in shock.
“You think I’m awesome? Why?” I asked in awe. Ruby smirked and gave a shrug.
“You’re nice and funny. Oh and most importantly, you played trains with me.”
“Wow, it sure is easy to get to your heart, isn’t it?” I smiled faintly. Berry laughed and set her glass down.
“No it’s not. Play with her for a few hours and she will love ya.”
“I once played with her for six hours straight with just a box. It was an experience,” Cherry agreed.
“Wait. If you have a girlfriend, then you’re not a single parent,” I pointed out.
“You’re right. Misspoke,” Berry admitted. “She’s up in Manhatten visiting her mom and dad.”
“I thought it was called Manehatten?” I asked. At least, it was in Equestria. Maybe things were slightly different here. Cherry raised an eyebrow.
“No it’s Manhatten. Where did you get Manehatten from?” She questioned. Me and Mom exchanged a quick look.
“I guess someone played a prank on me when they mentioned it,” I lied hastily. I know lying was bad and all but I thought it was the only way out of the situation.
“Interesting,” Cherry mused. “Gotta prank them back. It’s how prank wars work.”
“Prank wars?” Berry let out an evil laugh.
“Only the most intense, violent thing in the history of ever. You and someone else prank each other back and forth constantly. We did it when we were kids. I always won because I had no filter,” she explained. Mom let out a cough into her fist.
“Until me and Cherry teamed up to prank you,” she smirked. Berry rolled her eyes and glared at her.
“Shut up.” Ruby let out a laugh.
“Yeah, Ruby. You tell her,” Berry grinned. “See? I have the winning weapon. Unquestionable cuteness in the form of my daughter.”
“Only because you have none yourself,” Cherry muttered. Berry glared at her and passed Ruby to me and I instinctively covered her ears. Berry instantly stood up and grinned.
“Why you little shit. This isn’t over!” The two ran out of the room and I gave Mom a confused look.
“Are they always like this?” Mom let out a long sigh.
I stood behind a tree watching Moondancer and another mare sitting in the grass talking. I was debating trotting over there. I had already meet the other mare. I didn’t want to meet either really but Princess Celestia was making me make friends. Stupid in my opinion. I don’t need anypony but me and my books. I saw black suddenly I was in the old Royal library, reading a book on the mirror.
“What are you doing here?” I flinched at the voice behind me and looked up. My eyes widened at the two royal guards and Princess Celestia.
“P-Princess Celestia,” I stammered out.
“I told you that you could never come back here. What are you doing? You’re supposed to be making friends!” Celestia demanded. I shot to my hooves and glared at her as the guards lowered their spears at me.
“You’re a hypocrite! You have no friends! I hate you!” I teleported away and the black coat I had been wearing fell to the floor.
“Sunset, wake up. Wake up Sunset.” My eyes shot up and I was panting in my sweat. Ruby was sitting on my lap with a concerned look.
“Are you okay?” She asked. I looked at her in confusion.
“Yeah why wouldn’t I be?” I raised an eyebrow and rubbed my eyes.
“You were yelling I hate you in your sleep,” Ruby answered. “Was it directed at me?”
“No! Just a bad dream. I didn’t even know you were sitting on me to be honest,” I admitted. “Uh why are you sitting on me anyway and what time is it?”
“It’s Christmas silly! And it’s about eight am,” Ruby beamed at me. I let out a groan and rested my head back on my pillow.
“Too early. Come back hours from now when I’m available for business,” I grumbled. I closed my eyes and rolled my head to the side. Ruby started shaking me again.
“Aunt Cherry is making cinnamon rolls. Mom and Aunt Cheerilee sent me to wake you up. Especially Aunt Cheerilee.”
“Cool. I’m exhausted, Ruby. Come get me in a few hours please,” I mumbled. “Save me a cinnamon roll please.” I felt the weight on my lap disappear as Ruby climbed off me.
“You got it,” Ruby announced and I heard her running down the stairs. “Mom, Aunt Cheerilee? Sunset won’t get up and says to come back later when she’s awake and available for business.”
“Well, that won’t do. I’ll go get her,” Mom announced. Oh shit, I thought to myself. If you’ve never been woken up by Mom, let me tell you. It’s an experience. She typically yanks my blankets off. If it wouldn’t be embarrassing for us both, I’d sleep naked just so she never does it again but like I said, that would be embarrassing. And would scar my cousin if she saw anything. I faintly heard footsteps on the stairs and I rolled over, shoving my face into the pillow.
“Sunsettttt. Wake uppppp,” Mom sang and I stayed as still as possible. It was cool it was Christmas but eight am is too early for my brain. I had been up late helping bring gifts out and stuff and turn the Christmas lights on. Cherry was very eager to teach me all their traditions they did as a family. Apparently they did this every year. A part of me is jealous at that. I missed a lot when I ran away through the portal, but I gained a lot too. A loving mom, two friends and a great family. And a pretty cute cousin too. I felt a pair of hands grab my blanket and yank it off. I instantly curled up into a ball and grumbled.
“Your cousin is waiting for you. Lets go sleepy head,” Mom smirked. “You can keep your pajamas on too.” I cracked open an eye and stared down at my pajamas decorated by tiny versions of my cutie mark.
“Okay,” I slipped out of bed and trudged down the stairs into the kitchen.
“Well there’s Sleeping Beauty,” Cherry teased. I slowly turned and glared at her as I got a cup of coffee. “Woah. That’s an intense glare. Never get in the way of Sunset and her morning coffee.” Instead of being nervous like I expected, she let out a giggle. She was scared of nothing. Berry snickered as she bit into a cinnamon roll.
“What happened to your hair, kid? Looks like a vacuum sucked it up!” Aunt Berry and Aunt Cherry both laughed and I smirked faintly as I sipped my coffee, enjoying the familiar warm feeling spread through my body.
“I move in my sleep a lot,” I explained. “Sometimes I sleep walk.”
“I found her in the shower fully clothed, snoring one day,” Mom piped in with a grin. Cherry smirked and rolled her eyes. I was beginning to realize constantly rolling our eyes was a family thing. We all did it. I did, Mom did, Berry did and Cherry did. I’ve even seen Ruby do it a few times. I really fit in that aspect. I surprisingly fit in very well.
“I would have paid to see that!” Cherry laughed. Mom gave her a wink and gave me a evil grin.
“I took a picture. I’ll send you it later.” My eyes widened.
“You better not.” Moms grin widened.
“It’s only fair after Berry showed you the picture of me in the cheer leader outfit. When we get home, I’ll show you some good of her in highschool.”
“You better not,” Berry grumbled with a grin.
“It’s only fair,” Mom retorted and let her comment float in the air. “We should go open gifts before Ruby kills us.” Cherry and Berry gave laughs while I drank my coffee.
“Slow down girl. There’s more coffee,” Berry laughed. I sheepishly set the cup down and turned red. Cherry stood up and grinned.
Mom slid a large box my way and I raised an eyebrow.
“Uhm what is this?” I asked curiously. Mom snorted and rolled her eyes.
“It’s a present for you. Duh silly.”
“Oh uh you didn’t have go get me anything. I’m fine,” I mumbled. I didn’t really expect to get anything nor want anything. I already have a decent family. What else could I want?
“It wouldn’t be fair for us all to get gifts and you be left out,” Cherry pointed out. “Plus, we kinda went crazy getting you stuff because this is your first year with us.”
“I did the same because I wanted you guys to like me. Kinda stupid of me thinking that to be honest,” I admitted.
“Yeah a little. We already adored you without even meeting you so. Heck, I even have a picture of you on my fridge,” Cherry smirked.
“Same here,” Berry piped in with a grin as Ruby sat on her lap, playing with a toy I had got her. Mom eagerly nodded at my gift.
“Open it,” she urged. I rolled my eyes but complied and stared at the box curiously.
“What’s a Yamaha?” I asked. My fingers traced the white letters on the box.
“It’s a guitar company,” Mom explained. “We have a musical showcase when we get back from winter break at school. You said you loved how guitars sound and wished you could play so I got you one. You can make your own band with Lyra and Derpy maybe. I’m sure they would love to.” My eyes widened. This was the first she had mentioned a musical showcase at school and it sounded really cool. Maybe people would finally forgive me and I could work my way to being liked. I already had a surprise for Lyra.
“You really got me a guitar?” I asked in awe. “You didn’t have to buy a brand new one. I would have settled for used.” Mom lifted my chin up to make eye contact.
“Only the best for you,” she smiled.
“Take this to your cousin,” Berry told Ruby and she nodded. She grunted as she tried to push a large box and Berry smiled before subtly helping her. “It goes with your guitar.”
“Wanna help me open it?” I asked Ruby and her eyes lit up. We both stared at it in confusion.
“Uh what is it?” Ruby asked. I gave a shrug.
“I honestly have no idea,” I admitted.
“It’s an amp for the guitar. You plug it in and it strengthens the electrical signal from a pickup on an electric guitar, bass guitar, or acoustic guitar so that it can produce sound through one or more loudspeakers,” Aunt Berry explained. Aunt Cherry looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
“You Googled that, didn’t you?” She asked with a smirk. Berry scoffed and rolled her eyes.
“Shut up.” Aunt Cherry slid something to me and I careful opened it.
“It’s a guitar stand. Holds your guitar,” she explained.
“Wow. This is cool,” I gave a rare smile.
“Her smile does light up a room. You weren’t kidding sis,” Aunt Berry grinned. I turned a bright shade of red. Ruby set something next to me.
“Uh what is it?” I asked and stared at it.
“Sis says you’re really into metal and rock music right now so we got a bunch of posters and pictures for your room,” Aunt Berry answered.
“Just one question,” I raised a hand. “What’s a Slipknot?” Cherry let out a strangled gasp.
“Only the best metal band ever! We really need to get you to listen to them later today,” Cherry clapped her hands.
“You listen to metal?” I asked in shock.
“Well, not anymore. As a kid I did all the time. Even dragged my sisters to a few shows back then,” Cherry smiled fondly. “Good times.”
“The music wasn’t the greatest, but spending time with you two was amazing,” Mom agreed with a fond smile of her own.
“Definitely,” Berry piped in. “I remember you two sneaking me in and dressing me up to appear older than I was.” The three shared a laugh.
“Now that was funny,” Mom chuckled as she handed me a small item. I carefully opened it and peered inside. A bunch of photos of my cousin and my two aunts smiling faces were inside.
“So you can have them on your wall or nightstand,” Mom explained. “They are all recent and a few old ones are in there too.”
“Do you like them?” Cherry asked with a smile as she bounced her leg with Ruby sitting on it who instantly laughed. I held the pictures close to my chest.
“So how was your first Christmas?” Cherry asked as we watched Thomas and the Magic Railroad movie. Ruby was sitting on my lap curled into a ball, her eyes focused on the screen.
“It was really good. I didn’t actually expect any of this when I got adopted,” I smiled. Ruby let out a small yawned.
“I’m glad. Thanks for the model kits and such by the way,” Cherry grinned. “I was looking at getting a Concorde kit for months now. It’s really big too. At least i just cleared up some space in ny house for some stuff.”
“Thanks for the stuff for my Xbox and all the wine glasses,” Berry admired a glass as she swirled her red wine in it and took a long sip. “These are pretty good quality too. I’d say takes a while to make.”
“How do you know that?” I asked in awe. I had just saw glasses but she saw more apparently.
“I run a wine company. It’s my job to know everything from the grapes we use to the glasses,” Berry explained. That did make sense. Berry let out a laugh and pointed at Ruby. I had completely missed her falling asleep.
“Oh my gosh. Definitely a worthy picture!” Cherry picked her phone up. “Smile!” I gave a big grin and she took the picture, smiling. “Absolutely adorable. This is going on Facebook, if it’s okay with you two.” Me and Berry shrugged.
“Merry Christmas, by the way Sunset,” Mom said as she walked in the room. I looked at all of them.
“Merry Christmas you guys. I uh love you,” I turned red and rubbed my head. The three sat in stunned silence. Thay was the first time I had said that this whole time. Cherry was the first to speak.
I grunted as I carried my bag down the stairs. I was actually pretty sad that our winter break was over and that we had to go back to Canterlot. Really sucked because Sunset was really getting along with everyone. Naturally, Berry was her favorite aunt but she didn’t want to say anything.
“Want help with that Aunt Cheerilee?” Ruby stood at the end of the stairs grinning.
“It’s a little heavy for you. You can carry my purse to the car if you wish,” I smiled as I handed it to her. She eagerly took it and ran out the door.
“Hey sis,” Berry was sitting on the porch drinking a beer. She crossed her legs and smoothed down her skirt. It was rare for her to wear skirts or dresses. She preferred jeans over skirts. She did look great in them.
“Isn’t it a bit early to be drinking? Its twelve in the afternoon,” I pointed out with a frown. “Also you should wear skirts more often. You look great in them.” A faint blush spread across my youngest sisters face.
“Thanks but I’m fine with jeans. I’m only wearing one because you and Sunny are here,” Berry sipped her beer before setting it down. “It’s a bit early for drinking yeah, but I prefer to have alcohol in my system everytime you leave. Makes it easier.” I sighed and sat down next to her.
“I know what you mean. We definitely need to see each other more often,” I said. “With Sunset here, we have more excuses to travel back and forth.”
“Yeah hopefully. Speaking of Sunset, where is she?” Berry looked around.
“She’s upstairs hanging out with Cherry real quick as she packs. She pushed it off till today and her room was a mess. Reminds me of back home a bit,” I sighed. “At least that stayed the same I guess, even two hours from home.” Berry let out a chuckle as Ruby ran up to us.
“I put your purse in the car like you asked, Aunt Cheerilee!” Ruby grinned and I mussed her hair with a grin of my own.
“Thanks for the help.” Sunset groaned as she lifted her suitcase and plopped it on the ground.
“Sweet Celestia,” she muttered softly. “Heavy.” We both chuckled at that.
“You overpacked silly. I told you that you wouldn’t need that much clothes,” I smirked. Sunset rolled her eyes.
“It pays to be prepared,” she shot back. “Always be ready for anything.”
“God, you sound like Cherry,” Berry muttered. “Ruby, did you say thanks to your cousin and aunts for the gifts they got you?” Ruby slowly shook her head. “Well, go do it please. They’re leaving for home shortly.” Ruby ran up and wrapped her arms around my waist.
“Thanks for the gifts, Aunt Cheerilee!” I squeezed her back awkwardly. It was kinda hard to do so at this angle.
“No problem. Anything for my favorite niece,” I grinned. She let me go and tackled Sunset.
“Oomph!” Sunset grunted as she hugged her back. “Careful next time please.”
“Sorry! Thanks for all the trains!” Ruby grinned.
“You’re welcome,” Sunset managed with a red face. I’m assuming from a lack of oxygen. Ruby let go before I could intervene and Sunset gasped for air.
“Need help loading up the car?” Cherry asked as she stepped out on the porch. I slowly shook my head. We had already loaded up the car, all we needed was our suitcases in the trunk or the backseat. Either or works for me.
“Thanks for the offer. We got it though,” I stood up and hugged Cherry. Berry groaned and stood up herself and held out a hand to Sunset. She gratefully accepted it and Berry pulled her up.
“Thanks.”
“No problem,” Berry sighed and hugged her. Sunset looked startled before hugging her back. “You have mine and Cherry’s numbers. Once you get ungrounded and get your phone back, text or call us sometime.”
“You got it,” Sunset promised as she and Berry separated. Cherry held out her arms expectantly.
“If she gets one, I do too. Get over,” Cherry demanded with a grin. Sunset rolled eyes with a smile and hugged her.
“I forgot how hard you hug,” Sunset gasped out as Cherry squeezed her.
“Sorry. Kinda my thing,” Cherry apologized as she gave her another squeeze before letting go. Sunset let out an appreciative gasp and nodded.
“It’s okay,” Sunset smiled. “C’mere Ruby.” Ruby gave her another hug. “Thanks.” I watched with a smile. I was really happy Sunset was fitting in well. I had honestly been kinda nervous that she would hide herself away and told my sisters that. Thankfully, they helped me combat that by forcing her into hanging out with them. According to Berry, she really opened up with her and I was pretty grateful for that. Ruby let go of Sunset and stood in front of my door to my car.
“You can’t leave if I don’t,” she growled. She was like this every time we had to leave unfortunately. Granted we only lived two hours away from each other, but we all had pur own lives and jobs that made meeting up hard. Cherry and Berry saw each other the most because they lived in the same town.
“They have to go kid,” Berry sighed as she stepped over and lifted her up. “Sunset has school and Cheerilee has work. But don’t worry, you can bet we are going to go see them in a little bit. Maybe even stay for longer than a week.”
“You better not be lying,” Ruby tried to narrow her eyes but the attempt only made her look cuter. I let out a snort and smirked.
“I’m not lying,” Berry rolled her eyes but smiled. “Been a while since we’ve all been in Canterlot.” I gave a nod as me and Sunset lifted our suitcases and Cherry opened the back door.
“Thanks sis,” I said as I slid my suitcase and held out a hand for Sunsets.
“No problem. Call us when you get home so we know you got home safely!” Cherry demanded.
“We will,” I promised as she gave us a group hug. “We really gotta hit the road. Love y’all.”
“Love ya too,” Berry grinned as she and Ruby watched the hug. “Drive safe.” I gave a nod as Cherry released us and Sunset got in the passenger seat. I shut the door softly.
“Thanks for helping me get her out of her shell a bit,” I focused on the three. Cherry gave a smirk and waved her hand.
“It wasn’t a problem. Don’t mention it.”
“See yall soon,” I went around to my side of the car and got in.
“See ya,” Ruby waved and I turned the car on after shutting the door and putting my seat belt on.
“You good Sunset?” I asked as I backed onto the road.
“Yeah. Just sad. I was having a good time but now we gotta leave. It sucks,” Sunset commented as she looked the window and waved to the trio in the driveway. I let out a sigh as I gave my own wave.
“I know how you feel. Saying goodbye is the hardest part of visiting my sisters and niece. Don’t worry though. We will see them in a few months if our plans go well,” I promised.
“Hopefully,” Sunset grumbled.
“Wanna pick out a song?” I asked with a grin. Sunset shook her head.
“You can.” I shrugged as I plugged in my phone to the aux cord and picked a song.
”🎵I’m lookin’ down the barrel of Friday night. I’m ridin’ on a river of freeway lights. Goodbye city I’m country bound til Monday rolls around. Gonna kick off my shoes and run in bare feet where the grass and the dirt and the gravel all meet. Goin’ back to the well, gonna visit old friends and feed my soul where the blacktop ends🎵.” Sunset gave a faint smile to my surprise. Didn’t really expect her to like country music.
With a groan, I lifted my backpack and hoisted it onto my back. I actually hated school. The only good part was seeing Bon Bon, Derpy, my other friends and Sunset. I was really surprised Sunset actually accepted my offer of friendship. I never thought in a million years I would be friends with the former Queen Bee of Canterlot High. Or that I would actually trust her. Bon Bon was iffy on her and Octavia was against her a little. Derpy loved her and just didn’t give a fuck about anything or anyone’s opinions. I respected that girl so much. Derpy was an inspiring girl. Sure, she had her eye that got her made fun of but deep down, she’s a real good, friendly caring friend. I’d beat a motherfucker up if they came after her. Hell, when Sunset insulted her that one day, Derpy had to convince me to not fight her.
“Did I do my daily list today?” I wondered aloud as I brushed some of my mint green hair away out of my eyes. Let’s see, I did my makeup, check. Brushed my hair, check. Took a shower, check. Brushed my teeth, check. Brought my lunch, check. Did I put deodorant on? I lifted my arm up and sniffed, scrunching up my nose in disgust. No, I did not. Looks like I’ll be borrowing Bon Bon or Derpy’s perfume. No offense to my girlfriend, but Bon Bons perfume was horrendous, just like Octavia’s. Octavia always smelled like God awful fancy smells that hurt my head after being in within close proximity to her. I preferred Derpy’s. It smelled like baking supplies and cinnamon. Makes sense, because she makes muffins and other baked goods daily. Hell, it wouldn’t surprise me if she was bringing muffins with her right now. They were her favorite food, hands down.
“Hey Lyra!” Speak of her and she appears. Looks like I was right, based on the brown bag in her right hand. Derpy was walking up to me, eagerly waving with her trademarked big grin.
“Morning Derpy,” I waved back. She wrapped her arms around me and made a face.
“No offense Lyra but you smell,” Derpy whispered in my ear.
“I know. I forgot to put my deodorant on today, thanks for the reminder. Can I uh borrow your perfume please?” I begged. Derpy stepped away and rolled her eye.
“Yeah sure. Hold my muffins please,” Derpy held out the bag and I took it, taking a big inhale of the smell. If heaven had a smell, it would be a bag of Derpys muffins. She rummaged through her bag and held out her perfume. “Here you go.”
“Thank God. You’re a lifesaver Derps,” I handed her bag back and took the perfume, quickly spraying it twice under my arms and once on the front of my shirt. “Have you heard from Sunset?”
“Uh no. We don’t have her phone number, remember?” Derpy reminded me. We had completely forgotten to exchange phone numbers with her. I feel stupid about it to be honest. Usually, that’s the first thing we do when we meet new friends is give our phone numbers to them.
“Oh right.”
“Plus she’s still grounded and Miss Cheerilee took her phone away for three weeks,” Derpy continued. “So even if we did have her number, she couldn’t text or call us.” That also made sense.
“That checks out,” I sighed. Derpy raised an eyebrow as we continued walking to our school.
“What on earth does that mean?” Derpy asked in confusion.
“Basically means that makes sense,” I explained as I climbed up the stairs with her and held open the door. “After you.”
“Oh. Thanks Lyra,” Derpy gave me an appreciative look before stepping inside and I followed her, slamming the door behind me.
“Oh I did not miss this place,” I muttered as we stared at our classmates laughing and catching up.
“Oh come on Lyra,” Derpy scoffed. “So much potential for friends here. How can you hate this place?”
“Because school fucking sucks,” I grumbled. Derpy opened her mouth to retaliate.
“I sure hope you don’t think about us that way darling,” a British accent called from behind me. We spun around and made eye contact with Octavia, Vinyl and Bon Bon. My eyes lit up and I stepped forward, giving Bon Bon a kiss which she eagerly returned.
“I’ve missed that,” Bon Bon sighed contently.
“How was everyone winter breaks? Have a good Christmas?” Derpy asked. Me, Octavia and Bon Bon echoed each other with a simple yes while Vinyl gave a thumbs up. She rarely talks in public.
“Yeah. What about you Derpy?” Bon Bon asked with a smile that I loved.
“It was okay. Just wish Sunset was able to text me and Lyra,” Derpy kicked the ground and Octavia’s smile vanished.
“Do we really need to bring her up?” Our British friend scoffed. “Have you forgotten what she did?”
“Yes. And she’s been making amends with me and Lyra,” Derpy retorted. “We even slept over at her house a few times.”
“What?” Bon Bon stared at me. “You never told me that.”
“Because it wasn’t your business. It was between the four of us,” I answered. Bon Bon held up a hand.
“Hold on. The four of us? Who else was there?” Bon Bon looked at the two of us. Me and Derpy exchanged nervous glances. We had agreed to not tell anyone about Sunset being Miss Cheerilee’s daughter or the whole prostitution for money fiasco.
“No one,” I lied. Derpy nodded, surprisingly backing me up. She hated lying to our friends.
“Uh huh,” Bon Bon folded her arms and gave us her look that says I know you’re lying but I won’t push it because I’ll figure it out later. I’ve been on the receiving end of that look many times. Been on the receiving end of stuff from her multiple times. I really should get a hold on my dirty mind.
“Why would you even stay the night with her?” Octavia asked. “She was evil!”
“So was the Joker and Anakin Skywalker but they redeemed themselves,” I shot back. Bon Bon facepalmed.
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.” I glared at Bon Bon.
“What? He killed The Emperor to save his son!”
“After killing children, enslaving the Wookies, murdering a bunch of Jedi and doing what God knows else!” Bon Bon retorted. “And the Joker beat Jason Todd to death with a crowbar!”
“Technically he only beat him half to death,” Derpy pointed out. “The explosives in the warehouse is what actually killed Jason.”
“Not helping Derpy,” Bon Bon replied with gritted teeth.
“Would you three stop fighting over pop culture nonsense?” Octavia demanded with an eyeroll. “It’s dumb.” All three of us glared at her.
“Shush Octavia,” we all said in unison.
“Speaking of Sunset, here she comes,” Bon Bon nodded subtly in her direction. Sure enough, the fiery haired girl was walking to us. Octavia folded her arms and looked away while Vinyl kept listening to her music.
“Uh hi Lyra and Derpy,” Sunset muttered. I wrapped an arm around her and made sure Octavia saw it.
“Sup Sunny! Have a good Christmas?” I asked with a grin.
“Yeah it was good for a first Christmas. Spent time out of town,” Sunset admitted. Well, that explained why she didn’t answer the door everytime me and Derpy went over to see if she was busy.
“Wait. You’ve never had a Christmas before?” I asked in shock and even Octavia looked a bit surprised.
“Well no. First time for everything,” Sunset answered sheepishly. “Had no time for it or for Hearths Warming Eve back home.”
“What’s Hearths Warming Eve?” Derpy asked.
“It’s the Equestrian equivalent of Christmas. Before Equestria was founded, the unicorns, earth ponies and pegasi hated each other. There was no food for any of the tribes and everypony was starving. The leaders from each tribe went in search of a new land and each found a patch of untouched land. They each laid claim to it and fought over it. They soon turned to ice by the evil Wendigos and the ponies they brought with them because friends and banished the Wendigos. And Equestria was formed,” Sunset explained. “Earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi all living together peacefully.”
“Fascinating,” I muttered in awe. Octavia rolled her eyes.
“I have a surprise for you later Lyra,” Sunset winked at me.
“What is it?” I asked excitedly.
“You’ll see. Come to the assembly Principal Celestia has arranged for me.”
“So what do you think this assembly is about?” I asked as we took our seats in the gym, Bon Bon to my right and Derpy to my left.
“I have no idea,” Bon Bon admitted. “We will find out.” She pointed to where Principal Celestia, Vice Principal Luna, Miss Cheerilee and Sunset were talking. A box sat on the podium shut.
“Alright quiet down everyone,” Luna spoke into the microphone and we all got silent. That women knew how to silence a crowd. “First things first, welcome back to school after a long break. We hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas. My sister and I would like to announce we have a school wide music showcase planned for the beginning of next month. So make your bands and submit them to either my sister or I or Miss Cheerilee and we will enter you. Any music acts are allowed as long as it’s SCHOOL APPROPRIATE. I’m looking at you, Sweet Leafs.” We all burst out laughing and even Octavia cracked a faint smile. Sweet Leafs had protested climate change by stripping naked and painting herself green and standing outside the school. What being naked had to do with climate change, I have no idea. I sure enjoyed the show till Bon Bon intervened and dragged me away. I still don’t hear the end of that. It was a free strip show. How could I refuse that?
“And now, a student has a few words,” Vice Principal Luna nodded to Sunset and stepped away. She cautiously stepped forward to the mic.
“Hello.” A bunch of booing and insults were thrown her way and her face fell. Miss Cheerilee’s face turned cold and angry. She scared me when she got mad. I’ve only seen it once and that was back when we caught Sunset.
“Quiet!” Vice Principal Luna shouted and her voice echoed, the gym instantly quieted down. Even without a microphone, her voice demanded attention.
“Thank you. My name is Sunset Shimmer,” Sunset spoke again.
“We know,” Octavia muttered and Derpy elbowed her.
“I was a very evil person. I took advantage of you all. I bullied and harassed my way to power. I did awful things to you all and I’m truly sorry. I have one person I want to start with. My friend. Could Lyra Heartstrings please come up here?” Sunset continued. Everyone stared at me and I pointed a confused finger to my chest. Sunset nodded.
“Go!” Bon Bon hissed. I shakily stood up and walked down the bleachers, feeling everyone’s eyes on me. I hesitantly climbed the stairs to the stage and stood next to her.
“What is this Sunset?” I whispered. I was getting a bit uncomfortable with everyone staring at me.
“This is one of my friends, Lyra. She and another friend believed I changed and gave me friendship even when I didn’t deserve it. Nothing will make up for what I’ve done, but I can fix what I did to Lyra,” Sunset stepped to the box and opened it. She lifted a crown out and smiled. “Lyra, I crown you the Sophomore Year Fall Formal Princess.” I covered my mouth and gasped as she gently put the crown on my head. “You were the rightful winner of that year, not me. The year book may not recognize you as the winner, but I do. You deserved it.” I wiped a tear away. I had always wanted this. I could see Bon Bon grinning alongside Derpy’s wild clapping. Vinyl gave me a thumbs up and Octavia gave me a grudging smile. I spun around and hugged Sunset tightly.
“So Princess,” Bon Bon smirked at me and fixed my crown that was leaning half off my head at an angle. “What is your first royal act you’re gonna do?” I gave her a shrug as I ate my Pringles.
“I’m not sure. Why?” I asked curiously. Bon Bon rolled her eyes.
“Because you’re the Fall Formal Princess and even the teachers are recognizing it. It’s common knowledge the Princess was given a free pass for most activities. Might as well take advantage of it,” Bon Bon answered. I rubbed my chin in thought. I gave her and Octavia a wicked grin.
“You’re right,” I agreed. “Sunset Shimmer! Come here!” The lunchroom got quiet and glared at her to my dislike. The girl froze like a deer in the headlights and shrunk down to make herself seem small. I absolutely hated how the confident Sunset was practically gone. She shook off her fear and hesitantly walked to us.
“Lyra, what are you doing?” Octavia hissed. My wicked grin grew even bigger.
“Easy. I’m the Fall Formal Princess and can get away with anything like Bon Bon said . So I’m inviting Sunset to eat her lunch with us,” I announced.
“May God have mercy on my soul for being friends with you and your antics,” Octavia grumbled as she glared at me.
“Well, it was nice of her to do that. Kinda changes my opinion of her to be honest,” Bon Bon grudgingly admitted.
“Fine. Just don’t let her sit next to me,” Octavia folded her arms and looked away.
“Uhm hi Lyra. Hi Derpy. Uh what’s up?” Sunset’s eyes flicked nervously to Bon Bon, Octavia and Vinyl.
“Do you wanna eat lunch with us?” Derpy asked. I knew she would instantly take my side.
“Oh uh I would but,” Sunset subtly nodded to Octavia, Bon Bon and Vinyl. I rolled my eyes.
“Ignore them. You can talk to Bon Bon and Vinyl. Just act like Tavi isn’t here and you’ll be good,” I smirked.
“Thanks Lyra,” Octavia grumbled sarcastically. As much as she didn’t like Sunset, she still didn’t like being ignored. Apparently it was rude or some shit. I don’t know, I ignore people all the time.
“If it’s okay with you and Derpy,” Sunset shrugged and sat down next to me and Bon Bon, ignoring her. Bon Bon raised an eyebrow at me before nodding at my phone. My phone vibrated and I read the message
Bonnie❤️: What the hell was that about? Why would you tell her to ignore me? That’s so not cool. I let out a sigh as I texted her back.
Figured she would be more comfortable if I encouraged her to talk to the few she knew. Bon Bon read my text before nodding and she gave me a smirk.
“So Sunset. How are you?” Bon Bon focused on the fiery haired girl. Sunset froze with her water halfway to her lips.
“Uhm good. You?” She cautiously asked. Me and Derpy watched the interaction carefully. We both knew Sunset was shy and careful around others, especially with the bullying. Miss Cheerilee was watching us carefully as well and I gave her a nod.
“Pretty good. How was Christmas?” Bon Bon continued smirking at me.
“Decent. Met my aunts and cousin for the first time. It was a good time,” Sunset drank her water.
“You never met your aunts or cousin before?” Bon Bon raised an eyebrow.
“Well I got adopted this year so I’ve never really had any family in this world,” Sunset admitted. Vinyl gave her a grin while Octavia glanced back with a slightly confused look before quickly looking away and Bon Bons eyes slightly widened.
“Congrats on the adoption. What was it like?” Sunset cocked her head to the side.
“What was what like?” She asked.
“Getting adopted,” Bon Bon clarified.
“It was good. Not all that used to having six people that care about me so it’s sometimes surprising.”
“What about Rainbow and the others? Aren’t they your friends?” Derpy asked. Sunset scoffed and rolled her eyes.
“We aren’t friends. I’m just the chore Twilight gave them and they treat me as such.” I could see the air getting slightly tense.
“Hey Sunset. Would it be cool if me and Derpy came for a sleep over after school tonight? I asked with a smile. Sunset shrugged.
“I’ll have to ask Mom but I don’t see why not.”
“Can I uh come along?” Bon Bon asked hesitantly. We all stared at her in surprise. I didn’t invite her because I didn’t know if Sunset was comfortable with her knowing who her mom was.
“I’m not sure. Can she be trusted with the knowledge Lyra?” Sunset focused on me.
“What?” Bon Bon asked. I gave a shrug.
“She’s pretty good at keeping secrets so hopefully she won’t tell anyone. If she does, I’ll just break up with her and date myself,” I replied casually. Bon Bon gave me a glare. I was joking of course but she didn’t know that.
“I’m right here you know.”
“I think she can be trusted. If not, we will have words,” Derpy added in and Bon Bon gulped. I’ve never seen Derpy angry but the threat was enough.
“I agree,” I sighed. Sunset nodded.
“Okay she can come,” Sunset decided. “As long as she tells no one what she sees or then me and her will have words of our own.” Now that was actually a threat to be wary of. Sunset was pretty protective of who knew her family life and based on her semi violent past, I wouldn’t want to be on her bad side like Scribble Dee or Cherry Crash was. I don’t know if they still are but I remember watching her beat the everloving shit out of Cherry Crash repeatedly in the bathroom. CC was a bitch anyway so I didn’t really like her. Fuck around and find out.
“Where did you go for Christmas?” Derpy asked. “Me and Lyra dropped by your house a few times.”
“Some town two hours away. Think it was called Springfield,” Sunset answered. “It was a nice town. I’d kill to live there one day.” I gave a chuckle at that as I admired my crown.
“Where did you even get this at?” I asked.
“Oh I kept all my crowns buried in various locations. It’s what I did with all my belongings that I didn’t want people to find,” she replied. “Photos, blackmail and such. I should probably find all of those and destroy them before the wrong person gets their hands on them. That would be bad.”
“Yeah it would,” Derpy agreed. “See you four tonight?” Sunset bit into her pizza.
I sat with my legs tucked underneath me next to Sunset’s bed as her legs kicked back and forth as she idly strummed her guitar. Derpy was spinning around on her chair and Bon Bon was laying on her back tossing a bouncy ball up into the sky and catching it before throwing it back up.
“So Cheerilee adopted ya huh?” Bon Bon finally broke the silence. “That’s cool.” Sunset looked over at her.
“Yeah it is,” she continued playing and groaned in frustration. She had been trying for a few hours to play an Aerosmith song perfectly. “Nice to have a family on this side of the portal.”
“What about your family back in Equestria?” I asked curiously. She never really talked about them.
“I have a mom and dad just like everypony else. Got a brother too,” she answered as she stood up and set her baby blue guitar down on it’s stand, stroking it with an affection that I easily recognized. I stroked my lyre back home the exact same way.
“That’s cool,” Bon Bon commented as she looked around the room. “You have a very interesting music taste.”
“I see you added some new posters,” I pointed to the Slipknot and Beastie Boys posters. Good bands in all honesty. I haven’t listened to them since freshman year when I went through my punk rock and rap rock phase.
“Yeah. Aunt Berry and Aunt Cherry got me them for Christmas. I didn’t know who the bands were to be honest but Aunt Cherry played some for me. Psychological and No Sleep Till Brooklyn are pretty good songs. Fight For Your Right and Intergalactic are awesome as well,” Sunset answered. God, hearing those names was a trip down memory lane.
“I don’t know any of those songs,” Bon Bon admitted. I rolled my eyes. As long as we had been dating, all she ever listened to was classical music and the opera. She and Octavia bonded pretty quick over it. Me and Vinyl bonded over our love of loud music, dirty jokes and action movies. Me and Derpy just loved the same movies and baked goods. Well, she liked baking them. I liked eating them. I wasn’t that great at baking like she or Bon Bon was.
“Because you listen to god awful music,” I grumbled. “Hurts my ears with how tame it is.” Bon Bon groaned but kept her mouth shut. My eyes drifted to a black piece of plastic hooked up the TV.
“You got an Xbox now?” I asked as I stood up and admired it.
“Yeah. Aunt Berry gave me it so we can play gta and some other games together. There’s a game called Sniper Elite I wanna play,” Sunset answered. “Just have to figure out how to get a credit card and my money on it to buy it.”
“That’s a good game. I’ve only ever played it at Vinyls house,” I sat back down. “We play gta together all the time. Damn good game. Bon Bon hates it.”
“It’s just so violent. You’re killing people in horrific ways and stealing cars. Pretty much everything our parents raised us not to do,” Bon Bon retorted.
“Whatever. Anyway,” I focused on Sunset. “Wanna play Uno? Derpy brought cards.”
“Uh I’ve never played Uno,” Sunset admitted. “I’d do bad at it.” Bon Bon fixed one of her blue and pink curls in her hair before straightening her bright blue skirt.
“Well, no one is good at everything their first time,” Bon Bon smiled.
“Reverse. Back to you Sunset,” Derpy placed a blue reverse down and I let out a growl. Uno brought out the worst of people. The game to end all friendships.
“Uh okay,” Sunset muttered as she placed a blue one. “Your turn Bon Bon.”
“Sorry Lyra,” Bon Bon said in a tone that didn’t sound very sorry as she placed a blue skip. “Go ahead Derpy.” Derpy nodded and placed a green skip.
“Sorry Sunset,” Derpy apologized. Sunset waved a hand.
“It’s all good. I don’t really understand this game.” Bon Bon smirked and placed a green five.
“You’re so lucky. If you placed another skip or any draw twos or a draw four, I’d be fighting you,” I growled as I placed a green six.
“Sure you would,” Bon Bon taunted as we watched Derpy place a green three. Sunset looked over her cards and shrugged before placing a draw two.
“Nice job Sunset!” I grinned. Bon Bon groaned as she picked up two cards.
“I’ll get you back for that. I never forget. Ask Lyra,” Bon Bon sighed. I gave a solemn nod.
“She’s telling the truth. She still hasn’t forgotten the Sweet Leafs incident of twenty seventeen,” I admitted as I placed down a card.
“Ah yes. The infamous Sweet Leafs incident of twenty seventeen,” Derpy chuckled as she placed a card down. “Never forget. That was insane she did that. Like what does stripping have to do with climate change?”
“And painting herself green,” Bon Bon added in with a shake of her head. “And here I thought Vinyl and Lyra were hard to understand.”
“I normally would get offended at a comment like that but I agree. She’s weirder than me,” I sighed.
“You’re pretty normal. You’re not weird,” Sunset announced. Bon Bon snorted as she placed her card down after Sunset went.
“Have you been to her house? Her room is filled with- hmph!” I covered Bon Bons mouth with my hand.
“Ignore her,” I told Sunset hastily who raised an eyebrow at us. “Ow! Don’t bite me bitch!”
“Then don’t use your hand to cover my mouth!” Bon Bon shot back. The door creaked open a bit.
“Language girls,” Cheerilee poked her head in. “I brought cookies as well.” She held up a plate of cookies and I grinned. She made the best cookies. Don’t tell Bon Bon this, but they were better than hers.
“Thank you Miss Cheerilee,” Bon Bon smiled as Cheerilee set the plate down in the middle next to our sloppily made Uno pile.
“Just Cheerilee at home please Bon Bon,” Cheerilee smiled. “And it’s not a problem. Anything for my daughter and her friends.” Sunset turned a faint color of red.
“Mom. I love you but you’re embarrassing me a little,” Sunset admitted. Cheerilee grinned wickedly.
“Love you too. And it’s my job to embarrass you as a mother,” Cheerilee commented before disappearing and shutting the door.
“Your mom is so nice,” Derpy commented as she bit into a cookie.
“We go to school with her. We already knew she was nice,” Bon Bon pointed out. “But I know what you mean. Sunset is really lucky.”
“I know,” Sunset placed a yellow reverse. I didn’t even know the color had changed to be honest. I was just going on autopilot at this point.
“So we are keeping this a secret, right?” Bon Bon asked as Derpy placed a card down.
“Yeah. I don’t want her harassed because then I’d be breaking a jaw,” Sunset answered as I placed a card down.
“Makes sense. Uno!” Bon Bon shouted.
“Shit,” I muttered. Sunset said nothing as she placed a card down.
“We can’t let her win,” Derpy announced and placed a yellow four down. I gave a wicked smile and placed a draw four. Bon Bon gave me a dirty look.
“I still can’t believe Bon Bon said fuck you,” I muttered in awe. The cream girl didn’t seem like the cussing type. I’ve only been talking to her for a few hours and she just didn’t give off those vibes. Lyra gave me a chuckle.
“She only cusses when mad enough or during Uno. Uno is a friendship ender that’s for sure.”
“Damn right,” I chuckled. “I never knew Derpy could get so competitive.” I glanced over at the sleeping grey girl, snoring quietly. Bon Bon was laying next to her wearing candy decorated pajamas. She let out a yawn in her sleep as she rolled onto her side.
“Trust me. Derpy loves to win. She just hides it well,” Lyra snickered as she balanced an eraser on Bon Bons head.
“I can tell. I used to like winning,” I admitted. Winning was the most important thing to. Well that and being better than everyone else. Didn’t matter what it was.
“It’s a good feeling but too much can be bad,” Lyra agreed as she grabbed a pen and placed it on Derpys ear.
“You know that could hurt her if she rolled over on it right?” I asked.
“Oh.” Lyra quickly tossed the pen on my desk. I let out a sigh of relief. Last thing I wanted was to have a dead or injured person on my floor. That would be pretty bad. Plus, it would be messy and I hate cleaning up messes. Especially blood. I’ve heard it’s a pain in the ass to clean up and get out of carpet. Practically everything is hard to get put of carpet here and it’s stupidly annoying. At least back home I could just use my magic and boom, clean.
“What was Bon Bon talking about your room being full of?” I asked curiously. It had been on my mind for a bit, especially after Lyra covered her mouth with her hand. Must be something important and secret but blame my curiosity. Lyra rolled her eyes and gave a sigh.
“Really didn’t want you to find out this way but fine. I’m obsessed with mythological creatures. Unicorns, minotaurs, pegasus and stuff. Started from reading Greek mythology.” I raised an eyebrow. Now that wasn’t what I was expecting. I was expecting Lyra’s room to secretly be a sex dungeon with how dirty her mind was. She was probably the most dirty, horniest person I’ve ever met. Sex jokes was what came out of her mouth any opportunity she got. And I mean any. It doesn’t matter where she is or who she’s with. If she sees an opening, she’s going to take it.
“That’s cool. Why did you react so calmly when I said I was a unicorn?” I asked.
“I was faking it. Didn’t want you to think of me as a weirdo. Deep down, I was fucking ecstatic and happy. All my life I believed unicorns were real and told Bon Bon it ever since we met in freshman year. No one believed me and even Bon Bon thought I was crazy. Now I have evidence in the form of you I’m not.”
“As long as I don’t become a science experiment in your basement, I’m happy. And Lyra?” She glanced over at me.
“Yeah Sunset?”
“Don’t ever fake something around me again. That was the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard anyone say. I’ll try to get a picture of me as a filly and bring it here for proof. People still probably won’t believe you but the school will. If not, fuck em. You know you were right and that’s what matters,” I chided. Lyra gave me a big grin.
“Hey Sunset?” Lyra suddenly asked with a mischievous grin that I did not like the implications of.
“Yes Lyra?” I asked cautiously. With her, she could be about to say anything.
“Can you get me a bowl of hot water?” I tilted my head to the side in confusion.
“Uh why?” I asked hesitantly. Lyra nodded at Bon Bon.
“For her. I wanna see if I put her hand in hot water if she will pee herself like the stories online say will happen,” Lyra explained with a snicker.
“She is so going to kill you if she does. You know that right?”
“Worth it.” I looked between Bon Bon and Lyra’s pleading face.
“Okay. Why not,” I stood up and headed for the kitchen.
“Not too hot or else it will burn her!” Lyra called out as I opened the door. I gave her a quick thumbs up as I headed down the stairs and into the kitchen. I opened a cupboard and started rummaging for a decent sized bowl.
“This will do,” I mused to myself as I shut the cupboard and carried it to the bathroom upstairs. I turned the faucet on and continuously checked how hot it was. I didn’t want to hurt Bon Bon either. Once I was satisfied, I filled the bowl and shut the faucet off and worked my way to the room. “Got the water.”
“Excellent,” Lyra beamed. “Set it down right there please.” She pointed to an open area of the floor and I complied, stepping back. Lyra gently rolled Bon Bon over and froze when Bon Bon made a noise in her sleep.
“That was close,” I whispered. Lyra nodded before gently picking up Bon Bons hand and sliding it into the water.
“Now we wait,” Lyra announced as we watched. At least they were on an air mattress mom had in the closet. Easily can be cleaned. If piss got on my floor, I’d be mad as hell.
“Derpy is so going to be mad if any piss gets on her,” I muttered. Lyra’s eyes widened.
“Shit. I completely forgot Derpy was asleep next to her,” Lyra realized. Lyra grabbed Bon Bons hand as her eyes slowly opened.
“What in God’s good name are you two doing?” Bon Bon muttered. “What time is it, Lyra?” We shared a nervous look.
“Uh two am?” I offered weakly. Bon Bon glared at us.
“You’re waking me up at two am. And why is my hand wet?” Bon Bon shook the water off and stared at the bowl.
“Is anything else wet?” Lyra asked with a grin. I gave a snort.
“Someone could take that the wrong way and thing you meant something dirty,” I smiled.
“No just my hand,” Bon Bon grunted. “Though I really need to use the bathroom now,” her eyes widened and she glared at us again. “I know what you were up to. I’ll so get revenge!” Bon Bon shot out of the bed and out the room before sticking her head back in. “Uh where’s your bathroom?”
“Third door on the left,” I told her.
“Thanks. I’m still getting revenge on you both!” Bon Bon growled as she disappeared. I gave Lyra a concerned look.
“What did she mean by that?” Lyra waved a hand nonchalantly.
“Revenge prank. You get used to it. Wanna know something though?” Lyra grinned.
“What?” I raised an eyebrow. Lyra maintained her mischievous grin.
“So we all wanna make our own band?” I asked. I was sitting next to Bon Bon and Derpy. Vinyl and Octavia sat across from us. I wanted to invite Sunset but she said she was in a band with the Rainbooms. What a interesting name. Vinyl was busy with her head phones on doing God knows what. The gym was full of people making their own posters. Trixie, Lavender Lace and Fuschia Blush were on the stage making theirs.
“Yeah,” Bon Bon smiled. “I wanna play the piano with Lyra.” I had took piano lessons from her a little bit after she moved here.
“I’ll play the cello,” Octavia piped in.
“I wanna play the musical saw!” Derpy exclaimed. I stared at her in confusion.
“The fucking what?” I raised an eyebrow.
“The musical saw! It’s also called the singing saw. It sounds similar to a theremin,” Derpy clarified with a grin. I had no idea what a theremin was, let alone a singing saw.
“Yeah no. If we want to win the concert, we must play instruments people know,” Octavia announced. Derpys face fell and I rolled my eyes.
“First off, it’s not a concert. We literally win nothing from this. And secondly, if she wants to play a singing saw or a musical saw or even a fucking glass jar, let her. Who does it hurt?” I demanded. Octavia had somehow got the notion we won something from this. She was starting to get on my nerves with that shit real quick.
“Fine. Don’t blame me if we lose,” Octavia grumbled. I facepalmed a bit too hard.
“We can’t lose! Because there’s nothing to win!” I growled.
“What will Vinyl do?” Bon Bon quickly intervened. Octavia rolled her eyes.
“Vinyl will do what Vinyl does: be obnoxiously loud with her laptop and speakers,” Octavia said. Vinyl grinned and gave thumbs up. “See?”
“I don’t think she even heard you. She’s currently blowing her eardrums out,” I commented with a concerned look. I worried for that girl and her hearing. “As usual.”
“Sunset Shimmer!” Pinkie shouted and we all looked over. “Over here!” The gym went quiet as everyone glared at her. Sunset cautiously walked over to the Rainbooms and slumped down against the wall with her head in her hands.
“What do you think they’re talking about over there?” Bon Bon asked as the Rainbooms poster was shoved in Fluttershys face.
“I have no idea. Probably being asses about her past as usual,” I grumbled as Sunset wiped something off Fluttershys face. “It’s all they really do from what she has been telling me.”
“Why is she even in their band then?” Derpy wondered.
“Who even names their band the Rainbooms? Very Rainbow Dash sounding,” Bon Bon commented.
“That’s just what I was thinking,” I nodded. “Typical of her insane fucking ego.”
“Exactly,” Bon Bon sighed. “Oh boy. Here comes Principal Celestia.”
“Attention students!” Principal Celestia called and we all glanced at her. “I’m very glad you all are enjoying making posters for your bands.” We all cheered and I gave a smile. “I think this is the greatest thing we have ever done at CHS since the Fall Formal.” It instantly got quiet and everyone glared at Sunset again and I rolled my eyes.
“Well this just got awkward,” Derpy muttered.
“You said it,” I agreed. “Why would she even say that?”
“Probably didn’t realize how bad it would sound,” Bon Bon shrugged. I stared at the Rainbooms and made eye contact with Applejack giving me a confused look.
I sat down at our table with my lunch and bit into my pear. I absolutely loved pears. Gift straight from God. Bon Bon sat next to me and chewed her pasta quietly. Sunset walked right past us and sat down at the Rainbooms table.
“Sunset looks upset. What do you think it’s about?” Bon Bon asked after swallowing her food.
“I have no clue. I know she mentioned showing some new girls around the school. Something about getting off her past,” I commented.
“Hopefully it went well,” Derpy sighed. The doors swung open and three girls walked in. I rolled my eyes.
“Could they be any louder opening doors?” I groaned.
“I hope not,” Octavia grumbled.
“We heard you want to get together, we heard you want to rock the school,” the orange haired one started singing. “We’ve thought of something that is better. Something that changes all the rules. Why pretend we’re all the same when some of us shine brighter?”
“Shine brighter,” the two other girls with her echoed as the three started walking down the aisles, stroking peoples heads.
“Here’s a chance to find your flame. Are you a loser or a fighter?” The orange haired girl asked as she stroked Wiz Kids chin.
“Me and you, you and me, why don’t we see who is better? We don’t have to be one and the same thing. What’s so wrong with a little competition?” The three started singing in unison and pointed at all of us shaking them hips. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a hot sight to see. They sat down at some seats in the back and pointed their thumbs down. “Are you afraid of failing the audition?”
“You’re a star and you should know it,” orange hair rubbed Trixie’s chin. “Yeah you rise above the rest.”
“How did they get over to her so fast?” Bon Bon wondered aloud.
“Duh! Movie magic!” I pointed out. I started to feel super angry and competitive. I never really feel like this. Sure I get competitive but not like this. Her two friends lifted her onto the table.
“It doesn’t matter who you hurt. If you’re just proving you’re the best,” she jumped off the table and walked past us, looking back with a grin that Octavia matched.
“Battle! You want to win it! Let’s have a battle, battle of the bands. Let’s have a battle, we’ll go all in it. Let’s have a battle, battle, battle, battle of the bands,” the three sang in unison.
“I can beat you!” Blueberry Cake shouted at Cherry Crash.
“Ha! You wish!” Cherry Crash retorted.
“I so want this!” Trixie said.
“Not if I get it first!” Captain Planet yelled at her. Vinyl kept bobbing her head with her headphones on eating and I don’t even think she was registering what was happening.
“Wow they can sing,” I muttered under my breath.
“You got that right,” Derpy and Bon Bon said in unison.
“Me and you, you and me, why don’t we see who is better? We don’t have to be one and the same thing. Oh, what’s so wrong with a little competition? I’m going out and winning the audition,” the girls stood in front of us singing. I didn’t care what this was. All I know is I wanted to win God damn it.
“Battle! we want to win it. Let’s have a battle, battle of the bands. Let’s have a battle, we’ll go all in it. Let’s have a battle, battle, battle, battle of the bands,” some other students shouted along as the three girls finished singing.
“You suck!” I shouted in Watermelodys face.
“You are!” She shouted back. Bon Bon stood next to me and gave her an angry look.
“Watch how you speak to her,” Bon Bon fumed. I saw Sunset and the Rainbooms watch us with concerned expressions. Especially Sunset. I didn’t have time to dwell on that though.
“Let’s go Bonnie. We got a battle of the bands to win.”
“So let’s get this straight. The principals were fucking useless and all of our classmates are under those girls spell,” Rainbow grumbled as we walked. We had just left the principals office and they had been pretty damn useless. Even Lyra, Bon Bon and Derpy were under their spell. That sucked. They were going to make a band with Octavia and Vinyl but they all had an argument and fell out. Octavia was going solo, Derpy got pissed because Octavia still wouldn’t let her use the musical saw and left the group to make a band with Raspberry Fluff and Blueberry Pie. Bon Bon and Lyra were making their own group involving the piano and singing. I didn’t even know they sang or played the piano. Vinyl just didn’t give a fuck at all she told me and never wanted to be in it to begin with. She only was going along with it because the others wanted a band.
“There might be one person who might not be under the spell,” Pinkie pointed to Moms classroom. “Miss Cheerilee.” We all walked into the room where Mom was sitting at her desk. I assumed she was grading papers. She looked up and her eyes lit up when she saw me.
“Ah Sunset! How’s my favorite daughter?” She beamed. I gave a flinch as the others stared at me in shock. We were keeping that a secret.
“I’m good Mom,” I figured I might as well as go with proper titles since we weren’t keeping it a secret anymore. “How are you?”
“Really good. What are you girls up to?” Mom went back to her paperwork.
“Uh just looking to talk to you about something,” Rainbow leaned forward. “Have those new girls came and talked to you at all?”
“You mean Adagio, Sonata and Aria?” They did. Sonata is a very nice girl. They even sang me a song I hadn’t heard in years. Magical singing voices if you never heard them sing,” Mom sighed dreamily. My heart sank at that.
“Oh okay,” Rarity muttered. Mom’s eyes flashed green and I took a hesitant step back.
“And I know my daughter is going to win the Battle of the Bands because she’s the greatest and most important girl in this school,” Mom stood up as she leaned forward and kissed my forehead. I heard a faint awww come from Fluttershy. “I’ll see you after school and we can go home. Good luck winning, love. I know you’ll do it.”
“Thanks Mom,” I forced a smile as I left the classroom. Great. All the people I cared about were under their spell. Lovely. Fucking lovely.
“What the hell? Mom?” Rainbow demanded. I turned around and they were all staring at me curiously. I turned a bright shade of red.
“Uh yeah?” I offered weakly.
“When the heck did that happen?” Pinkie demanded, staring at me with wide eyes.
“Uh after the Fall Formal,” I admitted. “I live with her obviously.”
“But you’re not from here darling. How can she be your mom?” Rarity questioned.
“Because she adopted me,” I answered as I stepped to my locker. I heard them running after me.
“How is that even possible?” Applejack asked. I was getting pretty tired of playing twenty fucking questions.
“I’m getting tired of playing twenty questions. Why do you care?” I demanded. They hadn’t been acting like my friends, rudely bringing up my past and then being all like no offense and shit.
“Must be cool to have Miss Cheerilee be your mom. Bet she gives you all the answers and tells you when our tests are coming up,” Rainbow commented. I gave a bitter laugh as I searched through my locker.
“Nope. She doesn’t tell me anything like that. If anything, she’s harder on me,” I pulled out my book with my cutie mark on it. I held out my hand to Rarity. “Pen.”
“What?” She asked in confusion. I groaned and rolled my eyes.
“I need a pen. This book is magical. If I can get a letter to Princess Celestia, she can get a message to Twilight and she can come help us,” I explained as I was losing my patience. “Pen. Now.” Rarity raised an eyebrow but complied. Thankfully she kept her loud mouth shut.
“Thanks,” I let out a sigh. “Been a long time since I wrote these words. Dear Princess Celestia.”
“I don’t think she’s coming,” Rainbow grumbled as she kicked a soccer ball into the air before running to catch it. “We’ve been sitting here for hours.”
“She’s right. All of our classmates have walked past us,” Applejack grudgingly agreed. Everyone except Lyra, Bon Bon and Derpy since they were walking up to me.
“Hey Sunset,” Lyra greeted me. “Wanna join me and Bon Bons band? We’re the winning band after all.”
“No. Derpy and the Muffins are,” Derpy grumbled. She gave her friends a dirty look.
“You’re all wrong. The Rainbooms are the best because I’m the lead singer and guitarist. I’m the best,” Rainbow boasted. All her friends minus me gave her a dirty look while Pinkie rolled her eyes.
“Sure you are,” Bon Bon commented with a smirk. “Anyway Sunset, who do you pick? We’re all friends here except for them.” She pointed at the Rainbooms. I gave a sigh.
“Them. You guys are under some spell or something. I’ll fix this don’t worry,” I promised. All three girls frowned. They didn’t look happy about that answer.
“Okay then. Hope you will cheer for us to win,” Lyra gave a cold grin to Rainbow who glared at her. She and Bon Bon walked away to Lyra’s car. Derpy grinned at me.
“Good luck Sunset,” she walked away to her own car and got in her grey lovebug with bubbles on the side. I stepped away from the portal as the surface shimmered and Twilight shot out of it.
“Twilight!” All the girls minus me called out and ran to her. I reached her first and held out a hand. She looked uncomfortable before she took it.
“I’m backkkkk,” she grinned weakly. Rainbow hugged her quickly.
“We noticed,” Rainbow rolled her eyes. Twilight gave her a hug before stepping away with a serious expression.
“And I’ve got some bad news about those new girls.”
I sighed as I slumped against Pinkie’s bathroom floor. This was the first time I had ever been invited go do anything with them. First sleepover I’ve ever had with them. It was awkward and weird. Tense. I wish Lyra and Derpy were here. At least that way I could have someone to talk to. Sure, I exchanged words with the others but I wasn’t blind. I didn’t fit in here. I wasn’t wanted. We aren’t friends. I’m just a chore Twilight assigned to them. Speaking of Twilight, she was busy writing her counter spell. That had been my idea. Did I get the credit or anyone say “thanks” or “good idea Sunset”? Nope. They just ran with it.
I let out another sigh as I rubbed my wrist. I had been secretly cutting for weeks now. Mom didn’t know. Derpy didn’t know. Lyra didn’t know and Bon Bon sure as hell didn’t. As much as Bon Bon quickly fell into my good graces, I still didn’t trust her with knowing my suicidal thoughts. They had recently came back way stronger than before and I’m not sure why. I couldn’t tell Mom because she would freak out. I couldn’t tell my friends because they would freak out too and tell my Mom. That was some drama I could use to avoid right about now. I got enough of it from the art club kids pouring paint on my locker. If it wasn’t to be rude, I’d call it beautiful.
“I really need to use the bathroom,” Fluttershy said softly from the other side of the door. “If it’s not too big of a problem of course.” I sighed and stood up, washing my hands to avoid any awkward questions.
“Yeah sorry,” I unlocked the door and stepped out with a shy smile.
“It’s okay,” Fluttershy whispered as she walked in and shut the door behind her, locking it. I heard laughter coming from the bedroom and I sighed as I stepped inside.
“Hey Sunset,” Rarity nodded at me.
“Hi,” I replied curiously. That was the first she actually talked to me all night.
“Where is your leather jacket darling?” I had accidentally left it at home unfortunately. I’ll have to go grab it sometime soon. I miss it. I was wearing my long sleeve pajama shirt at the moment so I didn’t have to worry about them seeing the cuts. Thankfully. Not that they would care anyway.
“It’s at home. I forgot to bring it,” I sighed. I technically forgot anything to sleep on but Pinkie had spare sleeping bags and pillows thankfully. Felt kinda nice to finally be included. The only downside was it seemed rude of them to buy Twilight a milkshake and everyone else but not me. At least Mrs. Cake apparently felt sympathetic and gave me one for free despite my insistence on paying for it. I wasn’t too happy with Twilight at the moment. She called me and I quote, “a horrific winged monster.” Some princess of friendship she is.
“Quite a shame darling. It really suits you. Completes your tough girl look,” Rarity sounded legitimate.
“Thanks?” I muttered. I wasn’t sure if I should be complimented or insulted. “I’m going to go sleep. I have to go deal with three magic freaks tomorrow.” I slipped into my sleeping bag and felt sleep take me.
I stood next to the snack table sipping a cup of punch. Even though Sonata was technically our enemy right now, that girl knew how to make punch. I’ll have to ask her for her recipe if I ever get the chance. I watched Bon Bon arguing with Octavia as she sucked on a sucker with Lyra standing behind her. Derpy sat in a chair watching the three, eating from a bucket of popcorn. Where she got popcorn, I’ll never fucking know. That girl is amazing.
“I’m gonna get more punch,” I faintly heard Flash say. I honestly thought he was going to hit Snips for a second there. He froze and his eyes slightly widened. “What are you up to Sunset?”
“Drinking punch. Obviously,” I rolled my eyes. “What are you doing?” He sighed and looked away.
“Trying to do the same. Could you please move?” I was surprised he said please. Thought he was going to be rude as fuck about it.
“Yeah sure. Sorry,” I stepped aside and he got a cup. The doors swung open and I swallowed the rest of my punch and tossed the cup away. Adagio, Aria and Sonata strode in with grins. I rolled my eyes at Rainbow Dashs way of getting Twilights attention. She was throwing literal chocolate chip bits into her hair. This might be me only, but I’d be mad if she did that to me. Mad as hell honestly.
“There won’t be a Battle of the Bands!” Twilight announced as she and the others held hands. “Friendship is Magic!” I stood watching and waited for something to happen. I slowly frowned when nothing happened.
“Well!” Adagio chuckled. “They sure are cocky aren’t they? Saying there won’t be a Battle of the Bands. They must think they got it all locked down.” She put her hands on her hips and gave a smirk.
“Not if the Great and Powerful Trixie has anything to say about it!” Trixie and her two friends stepped forward angrily.
“Can it Trixie! We’re the best band at chs!” Flash shouted.
“No! The Crusaders are gunna win!” Apple Bloom growled. Applejack and Rarity looked concerned at their two sisters while Rainbow mainly looked angry.
“We should leave,” Pinkie whispered. “We are outnumbered here guys.” The others nodded as Apple Bloom approached Lyra with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.
“Tell yur freak friend to leave our sisters alone!” Apple Bloom snapped. Lyras jaw dropped and she shook a fist at the younger girl.
“Fuck off you little shit!” Lyra shouted as Bon Bon nodded her head in agreement. Derpy was arguing with Photo Finish alongside Blueberry Pie and Raspberry Fluff. I quickly looked back as I left the gym nervously. I gave a frustrated sigh.
I stared at the stage slackjawed as Snips and Snails rapped. This was quite honestly the worst thing I’ve ever heard. How they thought this was a good idea, I will never know. They were forgetting their lines and everything. My second hand embarrassment for the two was through the roof right now. Pinkie Pie was being Pie and bobbing her head enthusiastically to the music. If it could be called that. Snails was probably my favorite now that I think about it. Snips is just annoying as hell.
“Oh yeah! That just happened. Snips and Snails out yo!” Snips shouted as he dropped the mic. I instantly cringed and covered my ears. Jesus Christ, what does this kid think this is.
“Dear god,” Rainbow muttered. “Where is Rarity at?” We all shrugged. We hadn’t seen her in a few minutes. She had been right here a bit ago.
“Ahm not sure,” Applejack sighed.
“Take that Rainbooms!” Snips grinned as Snails pointed at his eyes and us. It had taken me a long time to understand what humans meant with their hands.
“I’m here! Hopefully I’m not late!” Rarity cried as she stepped in. I stared at in confusion. Mainly at what the fuck she was wearing. Who just wears shiny magnets as an accessory? Is that what people do here? “What? We are performing in front of a crowd. Am I not expected to look magnificent?” Applejack groaned and facepalmed.
“Knock em dead Rainbooms!” Spike cheered as they went on stage.
“I’ll be here....watching,” I sighed and rubbed my wrist. I felt a paw tapping my leg and glanced down at Spike staring at me.
“Are you okay Sunset?” He asked. I blinked and shrugged.
“Yeah sure. Why?” I lied and he narrowed his eyes.
“I’m a dog in this world,” he deadpanned. “I can sense when people are sad or upset. So what’s wrong?”
“Well you’re pretty perceptive,” I said in awe. I had of course knew dogs and cats could sense stuff but I didn’t know Spike could. That’s pretty cool actually but shitty he used it on me to be honest.
“Why thank you,” Spike held a paw to his chest and I ignored the music playing. I vaguely saw Rarity swinging around to my confusion. They didn’t tell me much but they didn’t tell me that was a part of the song. “Now spill.”
“Fine,” I sighed. “Keep this a secret. My mom and friends are under their spell. The Rainbooms intentionally bring up my past and Twilight did the same. The Rainbooms don’t treat me as their friend, they treat me as a chore Twilight assigned to them. They didn’t even invite me into their band.” Spike sighed himself and sat down.
“I know how you feel. In Equestria, I turned into a rampaging dragon and accidentally destroyed half the town. It was the talk of the town anytime anypony saw me. I’m used to it,” he said. “But they will come around. Just have patience.” I reached down and started scratching his ears. He smiled and leaned into it with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. “That’s the spot.”
“Thanks Spike,” I smiled back.
“Ruined! Absolutely ruined!” Rarity cried with tears streaming down her face. Applejack sighed and set down her bass.
“Were yah trying to make us look bad out there Rarity?” Applejack demanded. Rarity gasped and glared at her.
“This was not my fault! This was an act of sabotage!” Rarity growled.
“It wouldn’t have been possible if you didn’t insist on dressing like....like that!” Applejack pointed.
“What was with the confetti pinkie? I can’t shred with paper in my strings!” Rainbow held up a piece of pink paper angrily.
“It was pretty distracting,” Fluttershy whispered. Pinkie spun and glared at her.
“Says the girl who was running from a light the whole time! A LIGHT!” Pinkie shouted with her hands up. Alright, this was getting annoying.
“You guys still sounded much better than the other bands. You guys go find somewhere to practice, I’ll keep an eye on things around here,” I sighed. They gave me nervous looks but nodded. I mainly was going to try talking to Lyra and Bon Bon but I think they were up next so that chance was gone. Spike patted me on the leg as the girls filed out. Derpy sat down and started playing her saw as I gawked. So that’s what a musical saw was. It sounded very....different but worked when Raspberry Fluff played her triangle and Blueberry Pie played her cowbell like thing.
“Remember what I said. Be patient,” he smiled before following them. I sighed again and stepped out into the hallway and closed my eyes thinking. I shot them open when I heard foot steps and the Dazzlings were in front of me. I pushed my self off the wall.
“You’re never going to get away with this,” I grumbled.
“Why? Because you didn’t?” Adagio asked with a knowing smile and I froze. I didn’t think they knew my past. “Oh yes. We know all about you Sunset Shimmer. Turns out you got quite the reputation here at Canterlot High.”
“I’ve changed! I’m in a much better place,” I growled.
“Waiting in the wings while your friends have all the fun?” Aria mocked.
“Oh yes. You girls are so tight. And yet, they didn’t ask you to be in the band,” Adagio propped a finger on her chin.
“Probably figured no one would want to see them play if she was in the group,” Aria smirked.
“Too bad! So sad!” Sonata jumped from behind me. I hadn’t even seen her move.
“If it’s any consultation, by the time we’re done, no one will even remember you,” Adagio announced as she and Sonata hip checked me and entered the gym. I sighed and rubbed my side. They were right of course.
“Because I’m powerful and great!” Trixie shouted and struck a pose with Lavender Lace and Fuschia Blush. I had been wrong about my Lyra and Bon Bon being next. Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna clapped as Trixie got off the stage. I rolled my eyes and waited to see who was next to play. The curtains pushed open and the three girls who I had just confronted by myself were on the stage.
“You didn’t know that ya fell now that you’re under our spell,” Adagio immediately started singing and I rolled my eyes. “Blindsided by the beat. Clapping your hands, stompin’ your feet, you didn’t know that ya fell. Now you’ve fallen under our spell.”
“We’ve got the music makes you move it. Got the song that makes ya lose it. We say jump you say “how high?” Put your hands up to the sky,” all three started singing. “We’ve got the music makes you move it. Got the song that makes ya lose it. We say jump you say “how high?” Put your hands up to the sky.” They really were a fan of repeating themselves I’ve begun to notice.
“You didn’t know that ya fell. Now that you’re under our spell. Listen to the sound of my voice,” Adagio smiled. “Captured in the web of my song. Soon you’ll all be singing along.” If they weren’t evil, they would be great singers. I quickly shook the idea out of my head. I didn’t know if it was possible for me to get influenced by their spell but I didn’t want to risk it.
“We’ve got the music makes you move it. Got the song that makes ya lose it. We say jump you say “how high?” Put your hands up to the sky.” I grimaced at seeing Trixie glare at me. Why she picked me, I’ll never know. “We’ve got the music makes you move it. Got the song that makes ya lose it. We say jump you say “how high?” Put your hands up to the sky.”
“You didn’t know that ya fell now that you’re under our spell,” Adagio finished singing and gave a very malicious laugh. Lyra and Bon Bon were holding Derpy back from fighting Bulk Biceps while Octavia was arguing with Photo Finish.
I gave a sigh and rolled my eyes as the Rainbooms continued their arguing. Arguing over what song to play is honestly ridiculous. Just pick one. Boom, problem solved. Or well, that would be how I would do things. Spike was sleeping soundly in the corner to my surprise. I thought the loud arguing would have kept him awake. Maybe he’s used to their counterparts arguing in Equestria. I’ve only ever met them once and that was when I stole the crown and they were chasing after me.
“We have to play Awesome As I Wanna be!” Rainbow insisted. “It’s our only opportunity to get ahead into the winning bracket! This might be our last opportunity to do something about the sirens.”
“Ah hate to agree with her but Dash is right,” Applejack grunted. “We only got one shot, one opportunity.”
“Okay Eminem,” Rainbow rolled her eyes. Applejack raised an eyebrow and stared at her in confusion.
“Emmawho?” Applejack asked. Rainbow sighed and waved a hand nonchalantly.
“I’ll tell you later,” Rainbow pointed to the stage. “It’s our turn. Let’s go.” She quickly jogged to the microphone while the others followed at a more restrained pace.
“Awesome as I wanna be,” Rainbow grinned. Kill me now, someone. No seriously. She is so egotistical, it’s not even funny. And people said I was bad. At least I didn’t have a song dedicated to me being better than everyone. Oh wait, I did. “First you see me riding on a sonic boom, got my guitar shredding up my latest tune.” She did random poses that I barely understood. Spike woke up and rubbed his eyes, staring.
“Rainbow being Rainbow again?” He asked.
“Yep.”
“There is nothing you can do to beat me, I’m so good that you can’t defeat me. Yeah, I’m awesome, take caution. Watch out for me, I’m awesome as I wanna be. Yeah! I’m awesome, take caution. Watch out for me, I’m awesome as I wanna be!” All the lights focused on her playing her guitar.
“Do something Sunset! She’s about to pony up!” Spike said frantically. So I did the only thing that came into my mind: I ran out and tackled her. Her guitar flew through the air and impaled Pinkie’s drum who screamed in shock and all the lights came on. Rainbow glared at me while I gulped.
“That’s the bad girl we love to hate!” Flash shouted after a moment of silence and I flinched. We had a nice conversation the other day. How could he switch so fast?
“I knew she was still trouble!” Octavia yelled and I flinched again. I knew she still hated me and this proved me right.
“Oh yeah. Sunset Shimmer is back!” Someone yelled.
“No. It isn’t like that,” my head dropped as I walked behind the curtain.
“What was that!? Rainbow got up in my face.
“You were showing them your magic. I didn’t know what to do!” I shouted.
“Close the curtain? Give us a chance to deal with the situation?” Rarity snapped.
“I’m sorry. I just wanted to help.”
“Yeah well you didn’t,” Rainbow growled then screamed as Spike bit her ankle hard and drew blood. She tried shaking him off and he bit her harder, shaking his head a bit.
“Spike! Oh my God! Let go!” Rarity shouted. I gave a cold grin hidden behind my hand at him defending me. I loved this dog, I swear. Maybe I’ll trick Twilight into letting me keep him and turn him into me and mom’s guard dog. Spike yanked off some skin and sat down.
“Don’t be a bitch Rainbow Crash,” Spike taunted. I’ve never heard him cuss before so that shocked me.
“Nice performance Raingoos,” Trixie mocked. “I especially like the part where Sunset in a fit of jealous rage, knocked Rainbow Dash out mid guitar solo!” I finally snapped.
“It wasn’t a fit of jealous rage!” I screamed in her face and she stepped back. All the others rubbed their heads except Rainbow who stared at Spike in fear when he started growling angrily.
“If you say,” Trixie said smugly. “Looks like the principals are here to announce who’s going to be moving on. Guess it wasn’t too hard.”
“What are we going to do?” Rarity panicked. “We won’t get another chance to play again. And I had the most gorgeous dress planned.”
“Because that’s the tragedy here Rarity. That yah won’t get to play dress up!” Applejack shouted. Rarity gave her a dirty look.
“That is not what I meant!” Rarity snapped.
“And the next band moving on will be the Rainbooms,” Principal Celestia announced. Trixies eyes shot open and she gave us dirty looks.
“This isn’t over,” she snapped as she stormed off.
“Congrats girls. You earned it,” Principal Celestia smiled.
“Good luck Rainbooms. See you at tonight’s show. We are looking forward to it,” Adagio smirked coldly.
“Yeah well not as much as we are!” Rainbow shouted and the crowd booed.
“This never should have been yours Rainbooms!” Photo Finish yelled.
“Traitor!” Lyra yelled at me and I stared in shock. I knew it was the Sirens spell messing with her but it didn’t make that any less easier to hear. Bon Bon gave me a dirty look as she nodded her agreement. I gave a long sigh and stepped out of the gym.
“Thanks Spike,” I picked him up and scratched his ears. He turned around and licked my cheek.
“Testing testing. Testing,” I said as I messed with some dials and a loud sound that hurt my ears came out the speakers and I quickly turned them back to where they were sheepishly. “Sorry.” Rainbow sat playing with her guitar while Fluttershy did whatever it was to her tambourine. I think that’s what it was called.
“Isn’t it odd how we got chosen? We were awful!” Fluttershy sighed. I mean, it makes sense why we got chosen. The Sirens manipulated the principals. It’s times like these I’m glad I was a bully. I can easily see when others are getting manipulated. It’s a very useful skill to have.
“Very odd,” Trixie announced. I rolled my eyes when I saw her and her two bandmates.
“What are you doing here Trixie? Pretty sure the losers get the cheap seats,” Rainbow pointed with a smug smirk.
“You shouldn’t be allowed to continue. Not after how hard we worked. And I will not be denied!” Trixie snapped her fingers and Fuschia pulled a lever, making the doors under us open. I didn’t even have time to scream as we fell. “See you never!” She waved as I glared up at her, watching the doors shut and envolpe us in darkness.
“W-where are we?” Fluttershy asked with a trembling voice. I felt around with my hand.
“If I had to guess, I’d say this is where the stage hands have their props hidden during plays,” I shrugged. I forgot our school used this stage as a place for all our plays. “I can’t see if we have a lever or button to push to make it go up. Even if it did have one and we found it, the power probably is rerouted to the lights and other stuff above us.”
“How do you know all this?” Rainbow asked.
“I know all the inner workings of our school and it’s properties.” I had considered trying to sleep in here once but when I found out it was actively used by the school, that idea went to shit rather quickly. Which really sucked. This room was very warm. Would have been better than my bush but at least my bush got me a mom. Oh shit. Mom is going to freak out when I don’t return home tonight. That’s not going to be good. Hopefully she doesn’t ground me and assume I was out prostituting. Lyra mentioned she might be able to get me a job where she and Bon Bon work. Apparently she got Bon Bon one when the girl first moved here.
“We are going to die in here. And it’s all your fault!” Rarity pointed at Rainbow.
“My fault? What the fuck!” Rainbow fumed. “What gave you that notion?”
“Maybe if you hadn’t antagonized Trixie, we wouldn’t be here! We would be up there!” Rarity snapped. “We might as well give up trying to get out.” I immediately tuned them out and sat down. I kinda wish Spike was here. At least I could pet him without it being weird. Humans mostly aren’t a fan of being petted. Well, the normal ones aren’t I should say. I lost track of how long we were sitting down here. I’d say two or three hours based on my phone being dead. My eyes drifted up at a green smoke rising out of the girls and I glanced back at Twilight having a panic attack.
“Stop it! You have to stop!” I shouted. “This is what they’ve been after. The magic inside you.”
“But how? It’s the magic of friendship!” Applejack stated with a confused expression. I took a deep breath.
“When you guys started the band, you guys let little things bother you. I didn’t say anything at first because we aren’t friends and it isn’t my place but I want out of here,” I sighed. “We need to work together.” Rainbow gave me a startled look before nodding.
“Let’s bust this damn door down!” She shouted and we all ran at it. It swung open and we fell over. My eyes lit up when I saw who it was.
“Vinyl! Oh my god!” I tackled my dj friend in a hug. We had become friends after she invited me to a rave party. Apparently that was how she reached out and made friends according to Derpy. Vinyl hugged me back after a second. “Spike!” The dog was grinning behind us.
“Sorry it took so long. Had to find someone not under their spell,” Spike quickly nuzzled me and I laughed. That tickled but in a good way.
“Why isn’t she under their spell?” Twilight wondered. Spike and I looked at each other smirking before speaking in unison.
“So that explains why these pendants were so special to them,” I knelt down and picked up the shattered remains of one and angled it to let the moon shine through it.
“Without them, they’re just three harmless teenage girls,” Twilight agreed.
“Rainbooms rule!” Flash shouted as he and Twilight hugged, both turning a bright shade of red. We all let out a chuckle at that as Spike rubbed up against my leg and I reached down with a hand to pet him.
“Sunset!” Lyra called out eagerly as she and the others stepped up behind me. “That was awesome!”
“It was pretty damn cool,” Vinyl fist bumped me.
“Woah. She speaks?” Rainbow pointed in awe at Vinyl.
“Yeah. Lyra almost had a heart attack when she first heard her,” Octavia smirked.
“So Twilight is going back to Equestria soon,” Rainbow glanced back at me. “We really could use another person on backup vocals.” I shrugged before running over to my guitar I had brought for reasons I don’t know. I picked it up and started playing the Aerosmith song Lyra had helped me with.
“I also play guitar,” I smiled sheepishly at everyone’s slackjawed expressions.
“We’ll see,” Rainbow chuckled. “We are going to get milkshakes. Coming with Sunset?” I stared at her in shock.
“You really want me to come with?” I asked in awe.
“Well duh!” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “We are cool.” I shrugged and glanced back.
“I’ll catch up.” Rainbow nodded as the others started walking away. I sighed and sat down on the end of the stage and swung my legs. I felt someone sitting next to me and raised an eyebrow at Octavia sitting there.
“Penny for your thoughts?” She asked.
“What?” I asked. She rolled her eyes and sighed.
“It means what’s on your mind,” Octavia clarified.
“I know what it means. What I don’t get is why you are asking. Don’t you hate me?”
“I never really hated you. That’s a strong word. Extremely disliked you is more accurate. Besides, I enjoyed the competition in the class room. The events of tonight changed my opinion of you,” Octavia admitted. Lyra and the others sat down as well. I didn’t know they were still here to be honest. Well, might as well be open with them.
“I tried to kill myself,” I admitted. Lyra and Bon Bon glared at me.
“Are you stupid?” Lyra demanded. “Why would you ever do something like that?”
“I confronted the Sirens on my own. Everything they said, is exactly what I was thinking. Didn’t exactly make it easy to hear though.”
“We know,” Bon Bon replied. “Someone sent us a video of it.” I raised an eyebrow. I hadn’t seen anyone else in the hallway but then again, I was distracted.
“By who?” I asked. Bon Bon shrugged.
“No idea. Came from a new Mystable account. Doesn’t match up to anyone here at school.”
“Don’t ever try something like that again,” Derpy hugged me from behind and I could feel the air leaving my lungs. After all this, death by hugs is how I would meet my end.
“We’re sorry by the way,” Lyra rubbed the back of her head. “For calling you a traitor and all. That was beyond fucked up on our parts.”
“It’s okay.”
“No it isn’t,” she insisted. Lyra could be annoyingly persistent when she wanted to be.
“I’m sorry as well dear.” I gazed at Octavia with a raised eyebrow. That was something I wasn’t expecting. “It was rude of me to say you were still trouble.”
“So your group is back together again?” I asked curiously. They all looked at each other and shrugged, nodding.
“I’d say the whole thing brought us closer together,” Bon Bon commented. “We also have someone who wants to see you.”
“Who?” I asked.
“Me,” Mom grinned from behind. I instantly tackled her in a hug.
“Hey mom,” I grinned as she hugged back.
“Woah wait what? Mom?” Vinyl asked, sharing a confused expression with Octavia. We both let out a chuckle.
“It’s a long, long story,” I smirked.
“I am very proud of you. That was awesome,” Mom said. I turned a bright shade of red while the others laughed.
“Thanks.”
“Let’s go get milkshakes and then you can come to Vinyls house,” Octavia shockingly offered. “We have game night every week at one of our houses. It’s her turn to host this week. Miss Cheerilee can come as well I suppose if she really wants to.”
“I would but I’m a bit too old for that. I have work to do at home as well,” Mom admitted. “You go have fun Sunset. Be home by twelve at least.”
“Okay mom. Drive safe. Watch out for idiots.”
“So how exactly did she become your mom?” Lyra asked. “You’ve never told us.” Well, might as well tell them. Since we all are cool and all now.
“I was homeless and living in a bush in front of the school. She found me one day a few weeks before Christmas and took me home. She later asked if I wanted to be adopted by her and I said yes after the Fall Formal. End of story,” I explained. “So I live with her. Got two aunts and a cousin but they live a few hours away.”
“That’s cool,” Vinyl smirked. “So you and Tavi friends now?” Me and Octavia both looked at each other and shrugged.
“Fuck it, why not. I’m down if she is,” I maintained eye contact with her. Octavia inhaled and nodded.
“I don’t see why not. But I do have a question.” I gave her a quick nod of my own.
“Go for it.”
“How did you get here from wherever you came from? What happened to make you cruel here?” She bombarded me with questions. I held up a hand and she stopped.
“I can’t tell you what happened. My past is complicated,” I said and she sighed. “But I can do better than that and show you all.”
“How’s that dear?” Octavia asked as the others watched curiously. I gave her a sly smirk.
“How are we going to play over them from up here?” Rainbow asked as we stood over the stage on a hill. A car horn honked and Vinyl parked her car. It was a damn cool car, I’ve been in it multiple times. She pressed a button and it transformed with very large speakers and an amp for Rainbows guitar.
“Awesome!”
“Cool!” Pinkie grinned.
“Feel the wave of sound as it crashes down,” the Dazzlings music reached our ears faintly. “You can’t turn away, we will make you wanna stay! We will be adored, tell us that you want us. We won’t be ignored. Now you need you need us, come and heed us. Nothing can stop us now!”
“Can you plug my guitar in Pinkie?” Rainbow asked. I sighed and plugged the cord in to the amp.
“I’ve got the music in me,” Twilight stepped forward with her mic. Where she got that from, I’ll never know. Unless she carries one all the time for impromptu musicals. “Don’t need to hear a crowd cheering out my name, I didn’t come here seeking infamy or fame. The one and only thing I am that I am here to bring is music, is the music, is the music in my soul.”
“Gonna break out and set myself free. Let it all go and just let it be yeah. Find the music in your heart to set yourself apart,” they sang as a group and ponied up. I sighed and picked Spike up and started petting. After him attacking Rainbow on my behalf, I began to think about how to secretly keep him. If I had my magic, I’d just create a clone of him and be done with it. But then again, clones aren’t the same as the real thing unfortunately. Don’t tend to be as animated or caring.
“So the Rainbooms want to turn this into a real battle of the bands? Then let’s battle,” Adagio smirked.
“What we have in store, all we want and more. We will break on through. Now it’s time to finish you!” Their eyes glowed red and three sea horse looking things launched into the sky and a bright red light blinded us all for a second.
“Well shit Spike,” I muttered as we turned our backs to the Rainbooms and watched the Sirens true forms flying around us nervously. “This might be it little buddy.”
“Yup,” Spike gulped nervously. “It was nice knowing ya.”
“Likewise buddy. Likewise.” The three sirens harmonized at once and I spun around to Twilight and the others falling to my shook. Twilight looked around before her eyes settled on me.
“Sunset Shimmer! We need you!” She held a hand out hopefully and I froze. They never needed me before. Why now? Spike gave me an encouraging nod and jumped out of my hands.
“Knock em dead Sunset!” He grinned as I threw my jacket aside and picked up the microphone, pointing at the Sirens. I caught a faint grin and a thumbs up from Vinyl. That encouraged me even more. I’ve never sang in front of anyone before, not even my mom.
“You’re never gonna bring me down, you’re never gonna break this part of me. My friends are here to bring me round,” I helped Twilight up. “Not singing just for popularity.”
“We’re here to let you know that we won’t let it go. Our music is a bomb and it’s about to blow. And you can try to fight, but we have got the light of friendship on our side,” me and Twilight sang together as the others got to their feet. “Got the music in our hearts. We’re here to blow this whole apart and we will never be afraid of the dark. Here to sing our song out loud, get you dancing with the crowd. As the music of our friend survives.” A rainbow went flying towards the Sirens as I slowly lifted in the sky surrounded by a bright blinding light akin to a rising sun. I looked around curiously before closing my eyes. I never really thought I’d ever pony up like the others but here I am. The light got brighter and brighter before exploding as I felt my hair get longer and I grew two pony ears. Quite a weird feeling for first time around. The others lifted up next to me and I had a faint feeling they were still blinded by my light.
“Got the music in our heart. We’re here to blow this whole thing apart and together, we will never be afraid of the dark. Here to sing our song out loud, get you dancing with the crowd. As the music of our friendship survives.” A giant laser of Princess Celestia stepped forward to the Sirens and they got blasted by a rainbow laser much like the one I got hit by. I could faintly make out their pendants shattering and them picking them up before standing up.
“We will be adored. Tell us that you want us,” they sang horribly as people started throwing bad produce at them, mainly Lyra and Bon Bon. They gave each other terrified looks before running away.
“How did we get down here so fast?” Rainbow asked as I picked up a piece of the pendants.
“Duh! Movie magic! This is a movie. Don’t you see the cameras all over!” Pinkie screamed.
“Uh what are you talking about?” Rainbow asked nervously. Pinkie scoffed and looked away.
“Amateur hasn’t seen the light yet but she will.”
“So that is why these pendants were so special to them,” I commented as I let the moon shine through the shattered piece I held.
“Rainbooms rule!” Flash shouted as he and Twilight hugged with blushes.
“Sunset Shimmer!” Lyra shouted as she, Bon Bon, Derpy, Vinyl and Octavia ran to us. Octavia and Vinyl followed at a slightly more slower pace. Especially Octavia and I stared in shock at the warm smile she was giving me. “That was amazing!”
“For real!” Bon Bon chimed in excitedly. “Look at your gorgeous hair!”
“And your ears!” Derpy added. I found myself on the receiving of them tackling me in a group hug.
“So I take it you guys are normal again?” I wheezed out.
“You betcha!” Lyra grinned. “And it’s thanks to you!”
“We helped too,” Rainbow muttered. Applejack quickly elbowed her with a smile.
“Don’t ruin her moment sugarcube.”
“We love ya Sunset,” Bon Bon whispered in my ear. “Thank you for this.” I turned a bright shade of red.