The clock chimed 6pm in the music room. Another great rehearsal was over, and The Rainbooms had to start putting away their instruments and lock up the room so the janitors could come in and clean. As everyone was putting away their assorted instruments, Pinkie turned to the group and asked with a huge smile, "Hey guys, you know, it is a Friday. Do you guys want to have a sleepover at my place?"
Everyone seemed to be up to the idea, as they all agreed pretty quickly. All except for one band member.
"Sure Pinkie, but I'll have to meet you guys there later. I never really got to clean up after gym today and I kinda reek." Sunset Shimmer said.
After a few moments, everyone else in the room took a couple of cautious inhales and nodded in agreement.
"I'm just gonna take a shower in the locker rooms and meet you guys there. Is that alright?" Sunset Shimmer asked heading to the doorway.
"Alright, but don't take too long, or you'll miss all the fun." Pinkie called to her as she walked out the door.
As the door closed behind her, Sunset made her way down the empty hallway to the gym locker rooms. Since it was a Friday evening, and the Rainbooms were supposed to be the last after school club to leave, it wasn't surprising for Sunset to see nobody inhabiting the hallways. It was a short walk to the locker rooms, but thankfully the door was stil l unlocked. She turned the handle and pushed the door open.
She went over to the shower and started running the water so that it'd be warm when she got in. While she was waiting, she decided to empty her pockets into her locker. She placed the contents in her locker, and proceeded to undress, placing her clothes on the bench near her locker. As she stepped into the shower and felt the warm water begin running down her shoulders, she stopped paying attention to the world outside the shower curtain.
Without her hearing, the locker room door opened, and one of the janitors entered. She was a short, round lady who was somewhere in her late 70's. She wore the standard uniform for high school janitors, along with a large pair of thick-lens glasses and a hearing aid. As she was doing her usual cleaning routine, she noticed a stack of some sort of cloth lying on one of the benches.
"Ugh, I've got to remind those darned coaches to tell their kids not to leave towels on the bench like this. At least put them in the hamper where they belong." she grumbled to herself as she proceeded to pick up said pile of "towels" and add them to her cart. "Well, I guess that's all for here." she said, wheeling her cart back out the locker room door and down the hall to the wash room.
Having finished her shower, Sunset Shimmer, oblivious to all of the recent events, turned the water off and stepped out from behind the curtain, instantly noticing something was missing.
"Wait... didn't I leave my clothes on the bench there?" she asked herself out loud. Now with a sense of urgency, she continued to look all around the bench, in her locker, and around the rest of the locker room.
"Oh no... please tell me this isn't happening..." she pleaded to herself. Now starting to panic, Sunset tried to sit down and consider her options. All of her friends were likely at Pinkie's house already, there was nobody else in the building besides the janitors, and she couldn't leave the locker room without risking her dignity. It seemed like she was out of options, until...
"My phone! That's right, I can just call someone and ask if they can bring me some clothes!" she exclaimed rushing to her locker. "Man, I hope Rarity is near her phone right now."
Frantically, Sunset fumbled with the number lock on her locker, flung the door open, and grabbed her phone. Her phone's buttons beeped rapidly as she dialed Rarity's number.
"Come on, come on. Please pick up. Please pick up..."
Across town, in Pinkie Pie's kitchen, Rarity's phone buzzed on the countertop.
"Hey Rarity, you're getting a call!" Rainbow Dash shouted down the hall.
"Alright, alright! I'll be there in a second!" she called back.
"Well, hurry up!"
"You can't rush perfection, Rainbow Dash!"
"I'm not rushing perfection! I'm rushing you! You're gonna miss the call!"
Rainbow stood there for a few more moments with the vibrating phone in her hand until it stopped buzzing.
"You missed the call, slow poke!" Rainbow Dash called down the hall.
"If it's important they'll call back!" Rarity called back, and sure enough the phone started buzzing in Rainbow's hand again.
"Just hurry up, will ya!"
Rainbow waited for another minute or so, before the phone stopped buzzing again.
"You missed it again!" she called back down the hall.
"Ok! I'm almost done. Give me one minute!" she called back down the hall, as the phone buzzed in Rainbow's hand a third time.
"Ok! I'm here, did they call back?" Rarity asked, coming down the hall.
"Yeah, but if you're not quick, you're gonna miss it again." Rainbow said handing her the phone.
Quickly, Rarity unlocked her screen and answered the call. "Hello?"
"Hello, Rarity?" came a rather frantic voice.
"Hello? Who is this?"
"Rarity, you know who it is! It's Sunset Shimmer..."
"Oh, hello darling. Where are you? We're all waiting on you."
"I'm still at the school, but I need you to he-"
"Still at the school? My gosh you take long showers. Well, don't take too long over there. It'll be dark soon."
"Rarity, I'm not really in the mood for small talk, I need you to do me a fa-"
"Well, aren't you crabby. You know, you still need to work on your anger issues a bit."
"Rarity, I don't have time for this. I need you to bri-"
"Well, of course you don't have time. The sun's going down soon. If you want to make it over here before sundown, you had better hurry."
"RARITY, LISTEN TO ME! I NEE-"
The line fell silent.
"Hello? Sunset Shimmer? Are you still there?" Rarity asked her phone, as she looked at the screen to see that the call had been dropped. "Oh well, I'm sure if it's that important, she'll call back." she shrugged as she joined her friends in the living room.
"RARITY! RARITY CAN YOU HEAR ME! I NEED YOU TO BRING ME SOME CLOTHES!!!" Sunset screamed at her phone.
No answer.
She pulled the phone away from her face for a moment to look at the screen.
"Are you kidding me?! Of all the times for me to go over my monthly minutes!!!" Sunset screamed in frustration, throwing her phone back in her locker.
She took a deep breath, and tried to gather her thoughts. There was nothing else she could do. She had to try to make a break for it and hope there was something lying around that could cover her until she got home.
Coming to this decision, she walked over to the locker room door and cracked it open to take a peek out. The clock on the wall read 6:30pm.
"Crap! If I'm not out of here soon, the security guards are gonna find me before anyone else does." she muttered to herself. Trying to be discreet, she poked her head out of the doorway, and looked both ways. Not a soul around. She pulled her head back inside and closed the door. Beginning to hyperventilate, Sunset propped herself against the door for a couple of moments before gathering herself and preparing for a mad dash.
Gathering all her courage, she flung open the door to the locker room and sprinted down the hall, until...
"Oomph." Sunset had run into something that wasn't there moments before... something warm... something breathing... Somehow Sunset had managed to find the one student left in the entire building, and she had run headlong into them. It was only at that moment that she realized she was basically sitting on his rib cage, and that he was gonna regather his thoughts in a matter of seconds.
"What the heck? I was trying to avoid being roadkill today." the warm body said, opening his eyes. For a second, he just blinked, not sure of what to do. "Umm... Sunset Shimmer... is that yo-"
Doing the only thing she could think of at the time, Sunset Shimmer punched the guy's lights out.
"I'm sorry. I really didn't want to have to do that" she said to the unconscious student. "If you knew the whole story you'd understand..."
Trying to figure out what to do next, Sunset looked around for anything she could use as a blindfold for when this guy eventually came to. Spotting a stray piece of notebook paper lying on the ground a few feet away, she did her best to make a blindfold out of it. It would have to work for now, since there was nothing else around to help her. If she still had her socks, that'd be a lot easier.
Sunset heard some groaning as the guy she'd just knocked out was starting to come to. She got off of his chest and scampered a few feet away.
"Oh, my head... Wait, what's going on? Why can't I see?" he said reaching up to his face to pull off the blindfold.
Sunset had to do something, and punching his lights out again wasn't going to get her anywhere. She lunged forward and grabbed his wrists.
"Wait! Don't take off the blindfold! Please!"
"Why not. What don't you want me to see?"
"I... uhh..." Sunset stuttered afraid to tell him what was really going on. "I can't really tell you..."
"You realize that if you can't tell me, you're tempting me to take off the blindfold and find out for myself."
"Hey, I know it won't help my cause or anything, but if you do that I'll knock you out again."
He exhaled in frustration. "So can you just tell me already. Whatever it is, maybe I could help."
"Uhh..." Sunset looked around them starting to hear the soft sound of a janitor's cart getting closer to their current location. "Alright, I'll tell you. But not yet. We need to get somewhere more private."
"You're starting to make me really nervous you know." he remarked sarcastically.
"Oh, shut up." Sunset said looking for an empty classroom or something. Finally, she spotted a locker that seemed to be cracked open at the end of the hall. "Ok, I have an idea. I need you to get up and I'll lead you where I want you to go. Once I'm out of the line of sight, I'll tell you what's going on."
"Alright, fine. Just help me up real quick."
Sunset released grip on one of his wrists, grabbed his hand and pulled him up to his feet. She was interested to discover that he was only a couple of inches taller than she was, and had a fairly strong grip. But, observations would have to be saved for later. The noise from the janitor's creaky cart wheels was getting louder.
"Ok, follow me" she said, taking his wrist and leading him towards the open locker. Upon reaching the locker, she was horrified to learn that she might not be able to fit. There was a lot of stuff inside it, and the locker was only about as tall as her shoulders. Hearing the severity of the situation getting closer and closer, she contorted herself the best way she could and made it work. Eventually she managed to squeeze her way in.
"Ok, just stand where you are for now. Don't take off the blindfold until I tell you to." Sunset said.
With her hiding spot taken care of, she grabbed the door and closed it the best she could without locking herself in.
"Ok, you can take off the blindfold now" she said, watching as he took off the blindfold and tried to figure out his surroundings. At this moment, it sounded like the janitor's cart was just passing by the locker. The janitor didn't seem to pay him any attention.
"Whew... that was close." Sunset said, able to breathe easily again. "So... I'm sorry, what's your name again?"
"Rhythm. Metal Rhythm."
"Ok so, by chance, do you have a second set of clothes lying around anywhere?" Sunset asked.
The situation starting to dawn on him a bit, he replied, "Uhh... no, not really. I didn't have marching rehearsal this morning, so I didn't have a reason to bring a second set. But again, why do you ask?"
"Ok, ok, just don't freak out when I tell you." Sunset said. "I need you to help me find some clothes because when I was taking a shower in the locker room, my clothes disappeared. I tried to call my friends to see if they could bring me some, but I ran over my monthly minutes at the worst time possible. Then I ran into you when trying to find something to cover me."
There was a pause as Metal took some time to process everything. "So, let me get this straight. You got your clothes stolen, tried to make a break for it, and now you're squatting naked in a locker. Is that about right?"
"Well, I'd prefer you didn't use the "n" word, but yes, that's my situation in a nutshell."
"Ok... let me see if the guys' locker room is still open, I may be able to snag a few towels from there."
"Wait! Hold on! That's great for covering me now, but I can't go walking home just wearing towels!"
"Ok then... uhh..." he thought aloud. "Oh! I've got a jacket in my locker. I'm not sure exactly how far down it'll go on you, but it's worth a shot."
"Fine, grab it real quick, show me and we'll figure it out from there."
The sound of soft footsteps echoed through the hall as he jogged down to his locker. Sunset heard a door open, and close, and then the footsteps started again, until they stopped in front of the locker again.
"Ok, now stand back a bit and hold up the jacket to your torso so I can see it." Sunset requested.
Metal did just that. Unfortunately, the jacket only came down halfway down his thighs, which would mean that even if she wore the jacket out of here, a swift wind could easily turn into a breeze between the knees.
"Yeah, I had a feeling it might not be big enough" he said as if reading her thoughts. "Unfortunately, that's all I have at the school right now."
Sunset thought for a moment, and came up with an idea. "How big is the jacket around your body?"
"If I had to make an assumption, I would say I could wear a large backpack under it and still be comfortable. Why?"
"Ok, this is gonna be really weird for both of us, but I've got an idea."
After explaining her idea to him, Metal appeared to be blushing a bit, and looked generally uncomfortable.
"So, that's your plan... oooooookay... I guess that's cool..."
"Well don't sound so enthusiastic about it." Sunset teased. "I told you this would be weird for both of us."
"Ok, but for one, I've never carried anyone farther than maybe the length of a football field. My apartment is at least 10 minutes from here."
"I know I'm asking a lot from you but you're my only hope right now. As long as we're both careful, this can work."
Metal stared down the hallway, pondering the situation. On one hand, this would definitely be the most intimate he'd been with a girl, but on the other hand, if this went horribly wrong and they both got discovered, he would go down with Sunset, and no doubt anyone at the school that knew would torture them for at least the next few months. But, again, Sunset needed him, and he had honestly thought this evening was going to be really boring anyway, so regardless of what happened, at least he wasn't bored.
"So..." Sunset pried.
"Ok, it'll be rough, but I'll do it." Metal answered, returning to reality. "How do you want to go about this?"
"Ok, first make sure nobody's coming down the hallway, and turn your back to me and squat on the ground. I'll climb out of the locker and get on your back. Once I'm secure, put on the jacket over me, and we'll adjust the jacket as much as we can to keep me hidden. Sound like a plan?"
Metal looked down the hall both ways. There was nobody around. "Alright. Let's go."
Proceeding with the plan, Sunset emerged from the locker and latched on to Metal's backside, wrapping her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck and hugging her body as close to his as possible. This step completed, Metal attempted to put on the jacket. It fit a bit snugly around Sunset's body, but when he pulled the bottom down as far as it would go, she was concealed. He then buttoned up the front of the jacket and adjusted the collar to where it was right up against his neck. Sunset was completely concealed in the jacket.
Now came the hard part: getting up and walking home.
Metal pulled his arms back through the sleeves. "Ok, so before I try to get up, I'm gonna have to grab your legs. Don't freak out, ok."
"That's fine. Just be careful."
Grabbing underneath her knees, Metal tried standing up. It was going fine until halfway up he started leaning backwards a bit. Reacting accordingly, he adjusted his hands up Sunset's legs a bit to balance out the weight distribution. There was a small yelp from Sunset as he made this adjustment, but he managed to stand up.
"Hey, watch those hands, slick?"
"Sorry." Having secured a grip, Metal walked down the hall to the front doors, suddenly realizing they had a problem.
"Dammit! The doors are pull not push. I'm gonna need you to give me a hand and open the door."
Securing a grip around Metal's neck with one arm, Sunset reached the other arm out the sleeve of the jacket, and, with a little direction from Metal, pulled the door open. In doing so she started leaning back a bit, and had to squeeze Metal's neck a bit more to stay upright.
"Ok. Can't breathe."
"Sorry." Sunset apologized, pulling her arm back in the jacket and wrapping it back around Metal's neck.
Catching the door with his foot before it could close again, Metal proceeded to walk out the front doors. Surprisingly, to him, it was almost night. The sun had just set over the horizon, but there was still enough light out to see. With this in mind, Metal sped up his walk.
Once they got farther away from the school, a weak wind started up. Metal was starting to get a bit sweaty, but he could tell Sunset wasn't.
"Hey, Sunset, are you getting cold in there?"
"A little bit, why do you ask?"
"You're cutting diamonds against my back."
Sunset blushed a shade of ripe strawberries. "Sorry. What do you want me to do?"
"I don't know what you can do. I'm just giving you a hard time." Metal replied with a smirk.
"Don't make me start choking you again." Sunset teased, and they both chuckled a bit.
Metal dropped off the sidewalk for a second to cross the street, and Sunset bounced a bit on his back. For some reason this upset something in Sunset's internal systems, and she soon had a problem.
"Uh oh. Do you think we could hurry this up a bit? I've got an issue."
"What's wrong?"
"I've got to take a leak."
"Don't worry, we're almost there. Only a couple more blocks."
"Ok, but try to pick up the pace, otherwise there's gonna be something warm running down your back." Sunset warned.
At this information, Metal sped up his walking speed. He was making great time, but he could feel his muscles starting to get tired. Sunset was heavier than he'd originally thought. It didn't get any easier when her legs started getting sweaty. He was having to hold on practically with his fingertips. Looking ahead gave him a reason to breathe easy, though.
"Ok, just one more block. How's it going in there?" Metal asked.
"Still have to pee, but not doing horribly otherwise." Sunset answered.
"You won't mind a bit of bouncing will you? I forgot to mention that my apartment is on the 2nd floor."
"That would've been good to mention a little while ago, but I guess I'll have to manage." Sunset replied, a slightly pissed at the new information.
Within a minute, they were at the base of the stairs looking up.
"Ok, I'm starting up the stairs now. Hold on."
Sunset made it up the first set relatively fine, but on the second set she started having to fight the urge to empty the dam before getting inside the door. Fortunately, they made it to the top of the stairs quickly, and Metal's apartment was only a few feet to the left.
"Ok, do you think I could let you down here?" Metal asked, stopped in front of his door.
"No way! Someone still might see me."
"Nobody's ever home at this hour. You're fine."
"I don't care, I'm not getting out until we're inside."
"Ugh, fine. You wanna unlock the door then?" Metal suggested, starting to show exhaustion in his voice.
"Why can't you unlock the door?"
"Why do you think I asked to put you down. I've kinda got my hands full at the moment." Metal replied, getting exasperated.
"Ok, fine, where are the keys?" Sunset asked.
"Right front pocket."
Getting a firm hold on his neck again, Sunset reached down below her legs and felt around for the keys. She was having trouble finding them until she felt a bulge.
An alarm went off in Metal's mind. "Umm... that's not my keys." he said, turning fire truck red.
"Oh my gosh! No, that was not intentional!"
"Maybe try feeling more to the right, instead of the center."
Trying desperately to avoid finding the wrong "keys" again, Sunset felt more around to the right. There was another bulge in that area, but this bulge jingled.
"Ok, I found the keys."
She traced her way back up his leg to where the pocket opened up, and reached down it to grab the keys.
"Ok, I've got 'em."
"Alright. The lock is right in front of us, just reach out and unlock it."
Sunset pushed her arm out of the sleeve, trying to find the keyhole. It took a few failed attempts, but eventually she made it. She turned the key and unlocked the door. Metal pushed forward through the door, walked in and shut the door behind him. Immediately after the door latched, he dropped Sunset back on the ground, unbuttoned the jacket and fell forward on his knees, panting.
As soon as he fell forward, Sunset wrapped herself up in the rest of the jacket and leaned back against the door. She was safe once again. While Metal was regathering himself, Sunset took a look at the apartment from where she stood. It wasn't much. The kitchen was practically 20 feet from the door, and there was a couch and coffee table set up in the corner to her right, with a computer desk on the adjacent corner of the room. There was a hallway by the kitchen that led off to the left. Sunset could only assume that led to a bedroom. It was a small apartment, but it was obviously good enough for Metal.
When Metal managed to catch his breath and gather some strength, he stood back up and walked down a hallway to his bedroom. He opened his closet, pulled out a t-shirt and a pair of pajama pants and made his way back to the living room.
"Ok, here's some clothes you can put on." he said, placing the clothes on the arm of the couch. "The bathroom is down the hall, to the right if you want to clean up. I'm gonna make some pizza for dinner. If you'd like, I could make a plain cheese one for you."
"Yeah, that'd be great." Sunset replied. Feeling compelled, she stepped forward and gave him a hug. "Thank you so much." she whispered in his ear.
"No problem. I'm sure you would've done the same for me. Just wanted to help out a fellow Wondercolt." Metal whispered back, smiling.
After a little while, Sunset broke the embrace, picked up the clothes off the couch and headed to the bathroom to clean the sweat off her body. With the issue becoming more urgent, she sat down on the toilet and released her burden. When she finished, she took the jacket off and looked in the mirror. She was still naked, but she wasn't exposed anymore. She was as safe as she would be in her own ho-
"Oh crap! I left my phone and keys in my locker at school!" Sunset remembered. She heard a voice from down the hall.
"Everything alright in there?" Metal called.
"Yeah, I was just wondering. Do you have a car?"
"Yeah, but my brother's borrowing it until tomorrow."
"Alright. I need to get back up to the school sometime soon. I left my phone and keys in my locker over there."
"Ok, don't worry. We'll figure it out. If you need to, I could lay out a blanket and some pillows and you could stay here over the weekend."
"Oh, really? I wouldn't want to impose."
"Nah, don't worry about it. It's fine."
"Ok, thank you, again" Sunset called back.
A lot of built up tension released at that moment for Sunset Shimmer. For the first time since band practice let out, she finally felt like she could relax. She took a deep breath, and looked at herself again in the mirror.
"I'm safe. I'm alright. There's nothing to worry about." she said to her reflection. She then stepped into the shower, turned the water on and stopped paying attention to the world outside the shower curtain.
