Anything but Normalby mr. tallyman18ChaptersA regular magical unicorn crushA wretched hive of scumb and villainyEarly to Sunset, Early to RiseA helping hand for a normal manNetflix and thrillsA regular magical unicorn crushOf course he wouldn't just be out in the front of the school, that'd be too bucking convenient wouldn't it. Sunset shimmer grumbled as she paced nervously down the halls of Canterlot high, each click and clack of her large black boots grating more and more on her already frazzled nerves as she continued to search for the object of both her affection, and frustration, silently reassuring herself as she pressed on. Alright Sunset, you can do this, all you have to do is find him and ask him out. Sure, you've bullied him for as long as you've been attending this school, turned into a rampaging she demon, tried to enslave him, and magically mutate him to send him out on a path of destruction against an innocent race; but he's not gonna dwell on that, right? After numerous instances of looking through classrooms and lockers, and finding naught but the occasional drunk teacher and instances of student and staff engaging in some "after school extra credit"(She subsequently made a mental note never to touch the ruler in Miss. Harshwhinny's class, ever) Sunset eventually found who she was looking for. He was young, though only slightly younger that she was. With light peach skin, chocolate brown hair, and a figure that could be generously described as "lanky" and more likely would be described as "stick figure". His wardrobe was somewhere between a very well off hobo and a very poor swinger, featuring a prominent green beanie cap sat atop his head, and garishly bright, orange jacket, draped over his slender frame. Currently he was leaning against a locker, discussing something with Berry Punch, whom Sunset admittedly only knew for her striking visual similarity to Miss Cheerlie as well as her admirable devotion to her little sister, Ruby Pinch. "So, you'll be okay to host Ruby's party Norman? y'know I'll be happy to help with any of the preparations, balloons, banners, cupcakes, whatever." Berry asked, all the while rather testily attempting to shove a wrapped box tied up with a bow into her backpack, presumably a gift for the aforementioned party. "Norman" simply smiled and gave a light shake of his head in response, clearly finding amusement in Berry's frustration. "Chloe, and Cherry are both setting everything up as we speak Berry. We put up the decorations, I've got the catering order all ready, and we even booked alittle entertainment for it, trust me, you're in good hands." Sunset smiled at the exchange, It always warmed her heart to see the students of Canterlot High looking out for each other, it was a sign of old wounds healing and perhaps a chance at undoing all the damage she had caused. "Oh you're a lifesaver Norman, Mom and I thought we were out of luck when the skating rink canceled on us the other day. Without you, we never would have come up with something in time." Finally after a bit more struggling with her backpack,Berry finished packing her gift and continued her conversation with Norman. "Well if all thats done I guess all that's left to get is the birthday girl, I'll bring her by at around two if thats alright." "That's fine, I'll see you there." Berry gave Norman a quick smile and wave before heading down the hall towards sunset, whom, if she'd seen she gave no acknowledgement towards as she scampered along towards the exit. Not that Sunset would have minded at all, as she was currently in the process of pondering the conversation she'd just listened to. Unfortunately Sunset hadn't been aware that the party berry was discussing was today, This development would likely put a damper on her plans, as it would have kept her, already admittedly busy crush occupied for the rest of the day. She certainly didn't mind rescheduling her proposed "date", but she couldn't really figure out a time on the spot, and she doubted Norman would have the time to discuss it with her as he was probably already needed back at his workplace to get everything in place for the aforementioned party. Still, she traversed half the school, consequently seeing horrors no teenage unicorn girl was ever meant to behold, it'd feel like a waste if she didn't even attempt to ask, and the worst he could do was say no. Well no, actually there were a number of much harsher things he probably could have said besides "no", Sunset knew that all too well in her experience at Canterlot high after the fall formal event. Still, she'd heard it all before, and it didn't hold her back then either. Tentatively,almost apologetically, Sunset shuffled towards Norman, who seemed to be currently occupied by mobile device of some sort, tapping and scrolling on the little touch-screen device with a rather contemplative expression on his face. "Hey Norman whats u-" Norman's amber colored pupils, which were still locked on the device, shrunk with fear at the sound of the Unicorn girl's voice. In that instant countless scenarios of terror and humiliation flooded into his mind, and in a moment of pure reflexive instinct, he immediately scrambled into the familiar safety of his locker. Sunset winced at the harsh sound of the locker door slamming, a sound she used to revel in back when she'd torment Norman just to hold up her "bad girl" image. I suppose can't really blame him for wanting nothing to do with me after the way I treated him, oh well, maybe I can go over to sugar cube corner and drown my sorrows in a nice, big, bucket of deep fried- "S-Sunset?" Ventured a rather timid Norman from inside the locker, interrupting Sunset in her most depressing thoughts. "Yeah, it's me, you alright Norman?" Sunset heard a dry chuckle come from behind the locker door in response. "Well, I've been a little stressed at work lately, I've gone through a rather hard breakup recently, haven't had the best grades this year....oh and what was that other thing? ah yes, i'm currently stuck in a tiny green box." Sunset chuckled slightly, such a joke would have probably not gotten the same reaction had it been told by anyone else, which was mostly because very few people she knew could put such amusing dispassion and smarm in their voice. It was the kind of tone he often used at the front desk of his family's soda shop to repeatedly drone out to his somewhat slower customers that, no, refills were in fact not free for some beverage items and that they could in fact, not sit around and buy absolutely nothing just so they could use the free wifi or watch the television. "Alright, spare me you're life story, I'll get you outta there." Sunset teased as she took hold of the combination lock and began turning it to the proper position, guided not by the sequence of numbers, but rather by pure muscle memory born from the many times she'd needed to dig Norman out of his locker to intimidate and bully him at her leisure. It wasn't a particularly nice thing to recall, she admitted, but it did thankfully give her the skill needed to remove her crush from his current predicament. Which he wouldn't be in if I hadn't treated him like crap. So, I guess there's one trot forward and two trots back. Once she aligned the lock's pointer with the final number on the wheel she'd heard the distinctive "click" of the bolt unlatching, and swung open the door. Inside was a slightly rattled Norman, who flinched a little at her silhouette, but otherwise looked fine.Eventually, after a brief pause of uncertainty from both parties he finally spoke up. "........Thanks" He stated plainly, his voice retaining it's neutral tone though with a measured degree of appreciation and the ghost of a smile present his face. " You're welcome." she replied, offering a tender smile and outstretched hand, both of which he accepted gratefully. As she helped him out of the locker and back out into the hall; She took a moment to appreciate the feel of his hand, which, while somewhat rough and a little callous in places, had "well worn" feeling that she quite enjoyed. Unfortunately, a dry and awkward cough interrupted her thoughts, to which she looked over and saw Norman, casting a quizzical eyebrow and an expression of suspicion before looking down at her hand, still clasped onto his. She immediately jerked her own hand away from his as if she'd just touched a burning kettle. With a slight blush she looked back up at him and began to hastily apologize. "S-sorry, I uh....just wanted to make sure you wouldn't lose your footing." Norman simply smirked at the young unicorn girl's antics, and with a small amount of amusement evident in his voice, replied. "S'okay, anyways what did you need?" Sunset blinked in confusion for a moment before remembering that before all these shenanigans she'd actually had a point to approaching Norman. "Oh right, well I was just gonna ask you, if you're not too busy maybe we could go hang out? maybe catch a movie or watch something on TV?" She ventured hopefully as Norman frowned slightly in response, though sunset could tell it wasn't quite an angry or upset frown as much as a contemplative one. "Unfortunately "too busy" is probably most of what i'm going to be today." She expected as much, but at the same time was at least glad to have seen it through this far. "Thats fine, maybe another time then." Before she could turn around and walk off, Norman spoke up again. "Actually, why don't you come by the shop today, then maybe on my break we can discuss a time that works for both of us." "Okay!!" She agreed enthusiastically, internally berating herself for such a transparent outburst; which thankfully seemed to go unnoticed. "Alright, glad to hear it." And with that, the boy began a brisk run towards the exit,hurrying to get over to his workplace and prepare. Sunset stood patiently in place for a few moments, until she was completely sure Norman was out of both visual and auditory range, before giving a loud and triumphant "Squee" and jumping into the air. "Well, someone's certainly excited." A soft voice commented coyly, causing sunset to freeze in midair with horror, before dropping down and hastily trying to look casual. "C-Counselor Cadance!" she identified the voice, as belonging to the school's Counselor, a rather young member of staff who had recently married the chief of police. Currently she was propped beside an open classroom door, regarding the flustered student with look of mild amusement. "So....how long have you been standing the-" "The whole time." Sunset frowned harshly at the teacher, a vibrant red blush slowly spreading across her face. Both of which earned a kindly, somewhat sympathetic chuckle from the counselor before she continued on. "Seem's cupids arrow found its mark, wouldn't you say Sunset? Y'know if you need any advice, my door is always open to you." Sunset's frown lifted somewhat in response, her eyes shifting away from the staff member as she gave the offer some thought. She didn't really know Cadance personally and to be fairly honest, the older woman's interest in her personal life was a little off putting to her; sure she was the school counselor,but it still seemed a little too forward and random for Sunset's tastes. "With all due respect Miss Cadance, I don't think this is the kinda thing i'd like to discuss with school staff, In fact if you could do me a favor and keep this whole thing from getting out i'd appreciate it." "Of course, and you know if you ever change your mind, i'm here for you." Sunset smiled and gave a nod of agreement before thanking Cadance and making her exit, the same way Norman and Berry made theirs, subsequently contemplating if there was anything she'd actually wanted to see at the theater this week as she made her way out. Cadance waited until she was certain Sunset had left before carefully pulling out a pink cell phone and dialing up a familiar number. "Hello, who is this?" came the voice of a young man on the other end. "It's me Flash, Cadance" "Ah, Miss Cadance, you need me for something ma'm?" "As a matter of fact I do have something I need you for, my number one assistant. How would you like to help me play matchmaker?" Author's Note alright decided to take another stab at writing after my last computer (and subsequently my last fanfic) bit the dust, this time it's a little push for a pairing i'd seen popping up in a few places that i'd adopted as my OTP, Normsun! A wretched hive of scumb and villainy"And then ah told em, "ah'd sooner lick a sweaty jockstrap, Twice! an' maybe the second time it'd taste worse" The entire table roared with laughter as Applejack regaled her friends with a story of her "delegations" with the flim flam brothers. Currently, the five rainbooms, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow dash, and Pinkie Pie, had all congregated at "The Soda Club". A small, independently owned and operated beverage shop belonging to a local cherry farmer by the name of Cherry jubilee, currently hosting a birthday party for one of their classmates sister, Ruby Pinch, to which the five were in attendance and were subsequently passing time waiting on their drinks, with some idol conversation. "I for the life of me, still can't fathom how those two manage to stay in business with those kind of practices, I couldn't possibly imagine they'd have many repeat customers at the very least." Rarity Interjected through her rather unladylike peels of laughter. "Ah think calling picking up random garbage and selling it to people for three times its worth "buisness" is being a bit too generous Rare." Applejack briskly declared, her gaze shifting towards the many patrons of the shop, seated at its many ruby tinted booths and tables. Some of whom were likewise attending the birthday, most notably applejack and rarity's respective sisters, Applebloom and Sweetiebelle, alongside their friend scootaloo. The quintessential birthday girl herself was seated at one of the many booths with her mother, father, and sister all the while happily enjoying a plate of mini sliders with fries and exploring the applications of the new phone she had just recieved from her big sister. Of course not everyone at the shop that day was attending, other had come from the next door laundromat to have some food and drinks while waiting for their clothes to finish washing, or from the gaming and comics store also nearby, to enjoy a snack while reading a comic, or to pick up quick meal for their D&D session. "Now this right here's a business, fairly priced, set up in a high traffic area, and decent enough food too. Certainly a fair step above them two snake oil salesmen, that's for sure." "Right, and I'm sure that's not bias at all from how they made you wear that banana suit that one time." Rainbow replied smugly from across the table, smirking as Applejack's irritated expression served to prove her right. Applejack opened her mouth as if to reply, before the door mounted bell gave a light "jingle", signaling the arrival of another customer. The girls expressions immediately brightened as they recognized the figure of their friend, sunset shimmer, walking through the door. "Sunny!!! over here Sunny!!." Pinkie pie yelled enthusiastically as she waved at the orange girl, completely unaware of or unphased by the spectical she was creating. Sunset smiled at her pink friends antics and quickly made her way over to the table, to the warm reception of all her close friends. "Hey girls, you all here for the party?" "Yupperooni! Berry invited us all to come to her sisters birthday, Glad to see she remembered to invite you too, it wouldn't have been nearly as fun if one of us got left out, alone, forgotten, left alone to stew in miser-." "Actually Pinkie, I wasn't invited, I came here to talk to one of the employees." Sunset replied, a slight hint of annoyance in her evident voice, though wiether its source was from not being invited or even told about the party, or pinkies lack of tact was far less obvious. "oooooohh......weeell....i'm sure they just forgot." Pinkie amended quickly, immediatly realizing that she might have let her mouth run away from her as per usual. Unfortunatly this rare moment of insight was cut short, as rather then ending there, she continued on trying to "reassure" Sunset. "I'm sure they didn't decide not to invite you as a way to snub you or because they think little of yo-" "Either way! we're glad you made it sugercube" Applejack interrupted, gently attempting to steer the conversation away from the subject as Sunset's irritation became far more visable. As if acting on some invisible cue, Rarity interjected, both to help dodge the uncomfortable topic and to voice a bit of her own curiosity. "What exactly were you hoping to discuss with this employee you mentioned, darling?That is, if you don't mind us asking?" Sunset gave a slightly unsure look in response, on the one hand she didn't really know how this proposed date would go, or even if he'd agree to it, and she hardly wanted to get the girls involved if it turned out to be nothing. "I.....don't mind you asking Rarity, but if its all the same i'd like to keep it between me and Norman, at least for now." "Who the heck is Norman?" Rainbow question to no-one in particular. Sunset pulled a light frown but otherwise said nothing, observing quietly, unnoticed by the rest of the group as they all started to puzzle over the familiar name. "It certainly does ring a bell" Rarity admitted, stroking her chin in contemplation. Meanwhile, Applejack was similarly wracking her brain, her eyes squinting in deep thought, a hand to her temple and her other hand repetitively snapping in an attempt to recall whom the name belonged to. "Ah got it!" she said after a few moments of contemplation "Normans the manager here, Cherry Jubilee's nephew, ah met him a while back when i'd taken a temp job for her." "Oh yeah, Normal Norman" Rainbow responded, causing Sunset to wince slightly at the unfavorable nickname, before speaking up again. "Well, either way i'm gonna go settle something with him. Keep my seat warm, I promise I won't be too long." Sunset waved goodbye to her friends, all of whom waved back(aside from pinkie who was currently heating up one of the seats with what appeared to be an over-sized hairdryer), before heading off in towards the "bar" already seeing two figures hunched over on the stools provided just in front of the counter. One of the figures she recognized as Trixie, a rather self obsessed illusionist she regrettably knew from school. The other was her ex-boyfriend Flash Sentry, Who, while less of pain then Trixie, was still a rather unwelcome audience to her little discussion. In front of both of them she spotted Norman himself, tending the bar dutifully for his two patrons. The bar itself was an odd little counterpart to the endearing "old timey malt shop" appeal found in the clean, ruby red tables and booths scattered throughout the shop. Despite it's bright red countertop and ample lighting, the bar refused to surrender it's somber atmosphere, it's current occupants managing to maintain a contemplative silence, despite the celebration and antics of sugar high teens and pre-teens occurring, naught two feet away from it. "What am I doing here?" Trixie grumbled into her empty cup, breaking the oppressive silence of the lonely bar. "Warming that stool, Drinking all my root beer, and from the sounds of it feeling sorry for yourself." Norman offered dryly as he grabbed Trixie's cup and started filling it back up at the nearby tap. A tired expression was present on his face, not quite one of hostility or even annoyance with Trixie, but still very clearly lacking in sympathy and running out of patience. Still, Trixie continued, oblivious or simply uncaring of the young barkeeps growing frustration. "Trixie Should be producing musical masterpieces, She should be preforming feats of spectacular magic for adoring audiances! not entertaining peons at some brats birthday party!" "Well if "Trixie" wants to get paid she'll swallow her pride and do some humble, and honest work. Some of us don't need accolades for every single thing we do." "Easy for you to say! you're used to amounting to nothing!" Norman flinched slightly at her comment, though it went unnoticed to everyone besides Sunset, who was currently seething with anger, and slowly beginning to remember why she didn't like Trixie. where the hell does she get off telling ANYONE they amount to nothing, she should be grateful he's giving her pompous, blue, butt any kind of job in the first place, the ungrateful little- "Excuse me ma'm, can I help you at all?" Sunset was pulled from her mental rant by a nearby voice brimming with impatience, and after eventually tearing her gaze away from the scene, she came face to face with Normans cousin Chloe Commons. Like Norman she was also an employee at her families soda shop, though she tended the many tables as a waitress rather then working the counter. Her light lavander face was twisted into a frown, and her violet eyes fixated on Sunset with a, stern and unapologetic glare, usually reserved for murderers or people who drive too slow in fast lanes. "Well actually, I was just waiting to talk to someone" Chloe narrowed her eyes venomously, causing thick beads of sweat to roll down Sunset's neck as she wilted under the girls hostile gaze. "I don't think my cousin has time to talk with you Sunset. As you can see from your gawking he's very busy with some of our paying customers." The former unicorn winced slightly, both at her intentions being so clearly found out and at the clearly aggressive tone with which she'd been adressed. She had the distinct feeling any arguement she put forth would be immediatly brushed aside by the younger girl, still she fumbled to find a response, unwilling to give up after coming so far. "Well I can see that....but I-" "If you can see that, then you should have no problem holding off until tomorrow. My cousin is already worn out as is from planning this party, and i'm sure he doesn't have time to entera-." "Hey, Chloe! mind getting me another coke float?" Sunset flinched as Chloe whipped her head towards the bar, her long, chocolate brown hair coming an inch shy of smacking her in the face, as she searched for the source of this request. The voice in question belonged to Flash Sentry, the up until now, silent barfly seated next to Trixie, currently holding up an empty glass and looking at Chloe expectantly. The haggard young employee threw one last glare at Sunset before begrudgingly taking Flash's glass and going through the door at the back of the bar, presumably to grab some ice cream from the freezer. Sunset responded in kind, defiantly sticking her tongue out at the lavender girl as soon as her back was turned. A light cough interrupted Sunset, and turned her attention back to Flash Sentry, who gave her a knowing wink (which she admitted probably wasn't intended to be as creepy as it felt to her) before glancing back at Trixie, currently talking to (or at) Norman about the undue hatred she'd had to endure after the battle of the bands, and how she'd been a victim of the dazzlings mind control as well as the scorn of everyone else involved, all of whom clearly envied her superior musical talents. Meanwhile, Norman halfheartedly began to pour her another drink, all the while casting a disturbingly glazed look at a box of rat poison in dusty, cobwebbed filled bottom corner behind the bar. "Oh, Sunset nice of you to drop by." Flash announced loudly, causing Sunset to worry about his mental state. Thankfully Sunset was able to glean the true intent of Flash's overly loud statement as Norman quickly stirred from whatever grim fantasies he was indulging and turned to face her, his dreary expression giving way to a smile as he waved at the ex-unicorn. "Heya Sunset, didn't expect to see you again." Sunset smiled and waved back, before the implications of Normans statement sunk in. "You invited me over here, remember Norman? why wouldn't I come by?" "Yeah, but most people seem to just sorta....well.....I don't stick in their minds I guess. I half expected you to forget that we talked earlier today." The statement left Sunset experiencing some odd combination of, pity, indignation, and disbelief. Sure she saw first hand that most of her friends didn't know who Norman was, but that was understandable,it was a big school and it wasn't like they'd been particularly close to him, at the very least it was certainly less ridiculous than the assumption that someone would forget someone the just met today. Before she could respond however, Normans attention seemed to shift from her, to the distinctive sound of footsteps clacking on freshly polished tiles coming from just behind her. "Hey Berry, Your sister enjoying the party?" Norman greeted the newcomer happily, giving a short wave over Sunset's shoulder. Sure enough as Sunset turned to look behind, Berry Punch was there, frozen in her tracks, and nervously brushing the back of her head. "Erm....hey......you, Nolan right?" Normans face immediately fell, his former cheery expression disappearing under a heavy sigh and a light shake of his head. "It's Norman" He stated crossly, causing Berry to hang her head slightly in shame and embarrassment, as she hastily made an attempt to apologize. "Sorry, I guess I just had a lot on my mind and I-" "It's fine Berry, just tell me how the party's going." Norman interrupted, giving a wave of his hand in an attempt to assuage Berry's tension. Berry seemed to brighten considerably in response, giving Norman an affectionate smirk that Sunset admitted, might have made her jealous, if Berry hadn't merely a few minutes ago forgotten the name of the boy she was so suddenly making googly eyes at. "Oh! Ruby's really enjoying the party, she was a little disappointed when she heard she couldn't have it at the skating rink. Buuuut I think the "Soda Club's" charming, diligent and might I add handsome manager managed to make it up to her." Norman frowned and gave a light blush at Berry's none-too subtle tease, Berry herself giggling lightly at Normans reaction. It was right at that point that "might have been jealous" became past tense, and subsequently Sunset had decided Berry needed to leave. However many unbroken bones she left with depended on how quickly she would get the message. The ex-unicorn lifted a yellow fist to her mouth and coughed loudly, Pulling Berrys attention away from her jokingly flirty conversation. "Well, i'm glad you two are catching up, but I was about to discuss something with Norman. So id very much appreciate it if you left, that is if you don't mind." A slight tint of Sunset's older, "bullying" voice was present in her tone, and judging by her frightened expression and slight quivering, Berry was quite aware that "minding" wouldn't be the best course of action. "Oh right, sorry I was just, playing around with my frie-" Sunset's narrowed her eyes threateningly at the girl "Y'know what, lemme grab my order real quick and i'll be out of your hair." Sunset nodded in response as Berry Ordered herself a small meal consisting of hot dogs, chips and presumably an inordinate amount of preservatives and dashing back to her table. As she watched Berry leave, she felt whatever jealousy she harbored towards the other girl wither away into depression and shame. She'd already made such great progress and here she was letting some crush drag her back down. With a light sigh, she walked over to the bar and took a seat on the stool to the left of Flash, burying her forehead in her hands as the sombre mood of the bar washed over her. Looking back towards her friends table, she noticed all of them leveling concerned looks at her, clearly looking to her for awnsers. Near instantly Sunset felt a new wave of disappointment and shame overtake her as she sat in silence. "I'm Sorry..." she whimpered out quietly, unsure of whom she was saying it to, but feeling the need to say it out loud all the same. "None of us are the ones you're gonna have to apologize to Sunny." Norman stated plainly as he began dipping a corndog in cheese and called out the name of whatever poor fool ordered that monstrosity. "Well, not about that I guess.But you know I've got plenty more to apologize for, especially to you." Before she could continue, Norman held up his hand, requesting the former unicorn be silent, a gesture which admittedly agitated Sunset, but she complied regardless . "I'm gonna stop you right there Sunshine, partially because I've got my own little admission to make, and also because I need to get this guy his food." He said as he handed the horrific cheese and bacon covered mess to an off duty cop. Sunset Flash and trixie all gagged in perfect unison as they watched the older man take a huge bite of the heart-stopping abomination. Almost near instantly, Norman began wiping his hands with nearby napkin and clicking his tongue disapprovingly. "Ugh, suddenly I miss the days it was all just coffee and doughnuts with those guys. Anyways, back to my little admission." Norman turned to face Sunset, lightly brushing a stray lock of chocolate brown hair out of his face. Almost Immediately Sunset felt her previous annoyance melt away as she imagined running her hands through his thick brown hair, despite her bitter struggle to hold onto her anger, if nothing else then for prides sake. Silently she wondered what kind of secret he might be sharing. A tiny, almost humorous little theory formed in her mind that perhaps he might be confessing his own affections for her. Of course she found herself dismissing this theory almost immediately. Yeah....right, I haven't exactly been the best of friends to him, he probably wouldn't want to start dating someone like me after all that, would he? "For a while, after the fall formal...." Norman looked away as he spoke, and sunset could hear the slightest hint of a frustrated sigh as he struggled to find the nerve to continue. Sunset leaned closer, slowly beginning to wonder if her previous theory might have had more credibility then she previously thought . "...Well, it's hard to say, but..." Maybe he's has been feeling the same way about me,despite how I Treated him. Maybe this is my chance to make up for it all, and to be more open with him. The former equestrian gave a small but still very genuine smile at the young manager, her heart glimmering with hope. which, sadly, only made Norman's next words that much harder on the both of them. "...I hated your guts" Sunset blinked idly in a moment of non-comprehension and confusion before the weight of Normans statement slammed directly into her like the kick of a drunken mule. Admittedly part of her knew it was silly to think Norman didn't feel resentment for how he'd been treated, even sillier to assume he'd also been harboring some secret crush for her. But that did little to soften the blow she felt in knowing it for sure. She'd hoped that maybe he'd taken to her more than the others students at Canterlot high or at least that he'd be timid enough not to resent her too much for it, and that maybe she'd have a decent chance of avoiding the volatile subject altogether. She looked over to Flash, who was busy directing a disapproving frown at Norman, who was currently choosing to ignore it as he spoke up again. "I know you probably didn't want to hear about that, but I don't want you to go thinking you're the only one who needs to apologize." "It's alright, I suppose I deserved it after all the horrible things I did." Sunset said, with no small amount of uncertainty. Trying her best to appreciate the fact that he was coming clean, despite the fact that it was indeed not what she wanted to hear. The young manager shook his head calmly in response to the former equestrian's admirable attempt to dismiss the statement, clearly not willing to leave his apology at that. "With all due respect Sunny, you're completely wrong on both accounts, but i'm getting to that. Anyways, like I said, i'd still been pretty angry at you after the whole fall formal event.Did I believe you were genuine about turning over a new leaf? Maybe, but I really didn't care either way, for the most part it just, sort of felt good to be the one doing the tormenting. Of course after the battle of the bands I didn't show it outright anymore, but it didn't go away either, and the minute Anon-a-miss or whatever started spreading crap to everyone I was probably one of the first people to start assuming you were up to it." Norman looked down at the counter, his back hunched over as if the shame of his previous actions was physically weighing down on him. "It wasn't until I saw you crying in the hallways, when your only friends in the world decided to turn their back on you, that I realized just how lonely you must have felt. Not just then, but ever since you came here. You arrived here on a planet filled with monsters on two legs, alone, separated from your family, your friends, everything that was familiar to you. And here I was, a guy with a loving family, friends, a job, a generally safe and productive life, and I decided to torment you to make myself feel better. Because obviously I was the one who need to feel better in this situation." Norman sighed in resignation and opened a nearby fridge, pulling out a glass bottle filled with an unnamed soda. After popping open the drink and taking a large gulp from it, he continued his explanation, this time gesturing with the bottle for emphasis. "And around Christmas too, of course, that one time of the where we should be sharing happiness instead of scorn, and there we were, spending that time making a girl who doesn't even get to be "home for the holidays" miserable." He took a moment from his irritated tirade to pause, both for breath and another swig from his bottle of mystery liquid, which Sunset was beginning to doubt was actually soda. "We all focused so much on what you did or what you were trying to do, none of us ever stopped to think what we would do or what we did end up doing. I mean I couldn't honestly say i'd turn down the chance at power and fame or at least infamy, and that's before being stranded in a dimension filled with hideous man-beasts. Either way, you deserve an apology as much as anyone else does." Sunset adopted a slightly contemplative expression in response to Normans speech, finding herself slightly conflicted in how to reply. on the one hand, she was happy that he wasn't still angry with her, and had decided to move past everything she'd done and give her a second chance. On the other hand, she wasn't quite so sure his assessment was very accurate. Sure she was alone upon coming to the human world, but aside from the princess, whom she'd already distanced herself from when she came here, she'd already been alone beforehand. Similarly she didn't really see humans as "hideous" or "monsters" as Norman assumed. Aside from some initial misgivings, she'd never seen a human as anything less than a pony, and she certainly didn't think any of her behavior was justified by them not being her own species. Though she supposed it did make sense for his view of another species interaction with his own to be a little ignorant. Aside from humans there was no other sentient life on earth, so there was likely little frame of reference for them. Either way Sunset decided not to debate it with him directly, there was nothing wrong with Norman feeling empathetic, and regardless of whether he was right or wrong, it was a sweet gesture all the same. "Alright, how about a compromise?" she finally said with a warm smile. Norman raised an inquisitive eyebrow in response, but otherwise said nothing. "We can both be sorry together, how does that sound?" Norman immediately dropped his inquisitive expression and gave his own kindly smile in response. "I guess that'd be alright." The two remained silent,both of them taking a brief moment to bask in the glow of this new start. Well, that wasn't so hard.Maybe this will work out better then I thought. "So......I see the shop's doing well. You've been hard at work I take it" Norman snorted at Sunsets comment, as if she'd just made some kind of witty remark or joke. "Well, what passes for work here, I suppose. Mostly I just stand here at the desk, trying to keep the big scary expenses number low and the big juicy income number high. Aside from that I fill cups while people talk and occassionally pretend to listen." He said dryly, further down the bar Trixie could be heard angrily grumbling something inaudibly into her cup. "Speaking of which, you want anything Sunshine?" Asked Norman as he gestured to the large menu behind him. She hadn't thought about it before, but she was somewhat hungry. She'd had to skip lunch already thanks to an unfortunate oversight in her scheduling and she'd been hoping that she could have bought something at the concession stand during her date with Norman, which didn't seem to be an option any longer. Tentatively, she scanned the menu for something that didn't completely disgust her, eventually ordering herself a small sandwich, chips, and a grape soda. Norman nodded lightly and jotted down her order on a small notepad, the scratching sound of pen on paper replacing any conversation. But rather quickly, another, far louder sound was there to chase off the ambient silence that had already begun creeping its way back into the bar. The source of the sound was the main door to the kitchen, being slammed open, behind said door was a rather agitated Chloe, tray in hand, her violet eyes casting a harsh glare on Sunset, causing the ex-equestrian to recoil slightly. Chloe's hostility drew a disapproving look from her cousin. Which, upon seeing she immediately relented, looking away from Canterlot high's former queen of mean and begrudgingly serving Flash his Coke Float. "I'm glad you're here chloe, would you kindly go take this order to Bakin Bitz?" Norman asked calmly, his tone making it abundantly clear that this was in fact not a request. Chloe looked as if she was about to protest, but thought better of it, snatching the order from Normans outstreteched hand before giving Sunset another dirty look and storming off. Meanwhile at the other side of the bar, a certain blue skinned illusionist had observed the scene silently, a cunning smirk forming on her face as she watched the lavender girl walk away. Norman gave Sunset an apologetic look, before immediately giving her an apologetic statement to go with it. "Sorry Sunny, she can be a little, overprotective at times." "That's ok, I know how it can be with family." Sunset reassured him, vaguely recalling Applebloom and Sweetiebelle's reaction to her spending time with their sisters. "Either way, I'll have a talk with her about it, maybe ask Auntie Jubilee if she could say something. After all, can't have her acting that way around my friends." Sunset could feel a slight flutter in her heart at the mention of the word "friend", admittedly she'd hoped for more then that, but it was a good place to start. And it wasn't as if, she had a lot of close personal friends aside from the Rainbooms. A light cough from nearby broke Sunset from her happy contemplation, and sure enough she turned to see the source of was none other then Flash Sentry, who had until now, remained silent. "So, Norman, haven't met up with you in a while, you've been seeing anyone?" Norman, who had already finished off the last of his mystery beverage, was already in the process of aquiring another from the fridge when he'd heard Flash's inquiry. He regarded the question with a smirk mild amusement "Sentry, if you're coming out of the closet, let me congratulate you, but I don't play for that-" "Don't be more of an ass then you usually are dude, just answer the question." Flash interrupted loudly,doing his best to ignore Sunsets blush and Trixie's poorly concealed snickering. "No, I haven't been seeing anyone since Blue and I broke up." "Still holdin out hope you might get back together?" "I'm not stupid Flash, I know it's through. Those....things made sure of that during the battle of the bands." Sunset cast her eyes away from Norman as he ranted, knowing full well who Norman was referring to. "Speaking of the Dazzlings, you happen to see them anywhere Norman?" She asked tentatively "Do you see filet-o-fish on the menu?" "N-No, not really.." "Then I haven't seen those tuna-heads, and for their sake I hope it stays that way." Sunset grimaced, slightly taken aback by the rather cold response. However, before she could press the issue the door to the kitchen opened again, and once again, Chloe walked in tray in hand, still harboring an expression of distrust and general dislike towards Sunset, but otherwise remaining silent as she set Sunset's food down in front of her. Sunset rubbed her hands in anticipation as she looked down at the 6-inch ham sub, having only now realized how hungry she was. " Thanks Chloe." Chloe waved off Sunset's gratitude with a mild disinterest. Ignoring his cousins icy demeanor, Norman tentatively tapped a few buttons on the cash register and rang up Sunset's meal. "That'll be five eighty nine." Nodding In response, Sunset rummaged through her pocket in search of her wallet. Sadly, much to her increasing embarrassment, she found nothing. A quick check of her other pocket had reinforced her worry, as she found it too was vacant. Unfortunately, she did a very poor job of hiding her stress from the rest of the bar, as the other patrons had all begun to stare at her expectantly, each of them likely coming to the same realization she had. "I....guess I forgot my wallet at home." Sunset cast her gaze downwards, and out of the corner of her eye she could see Norman do the same, both of them clearly off put by the situation. "Well, y'know Sunshine, I wish I could give these sandwiches out for free, it'd certainly benefit the gentlemen over in the alley nearby...but..." "It's fine, I wasn't hungry anyways." No sooner had she spoken then her traitorious stomach had decided to loudly rumble in protest, causing her face to redden. Norman once again gave a downcast look, scratching the back of his head and idly tapping his fingers on the counter. Briefly she considered fleeing to her house to boil some noodles or warm up some leftovers before a sharp intake of breath snapped brought her attention back to the young manager in front of her. "Alright look, I don't usually do this, but how about I open a tab. You'll get to eat today and you'll pay me back by the end of the week." He wore a look of light trepidation on his face, clearly doing this rather begrudgingly, but still attempting to offer Sunset a way out of this predicament. She immediately brightened upon hearing his deal, admittedly the food wasn't a huge issue for her, but it was a nice gesture regardless. "Thanks Norman" She said between large, onion-filled bites of her sandwich. The manager smiled in response. "Don't mention it." He looked over his shoulder quietly, as if worried there might be someone listening in, before leaning over to Sunset and whispering in her ear. "Seriously don't, i'd rather not be known for doing this sort of thing if you catch my drift." Sunset nodded in response before making a gesture of "zipping" her mouth and throwing away the zipper....or key, she was never really sure what it was in that metaphor but she was throwing it. Satisfied by her response, Norman returned to gulping down his questionable beverage before speaking up again. "Why exactly did you want to know if I'd seen the Dazzlings?" "Oh, well for one I wanna make sure they're not up to anything right now." "And, aside from that?" "Well, lately I've been finding....evidence that points to the Sirens not being the only thing thing that passed from Equestria over to here. And I was hoping, with how long with how long they've been around, they might know something about whatever else might be out and about here." Norman raised an eyebrow skeptically, rather unsure of what to make of Sunset's new information. "You think something else came through the same portal you and the Dazzlings came out of?" she nodded before continuing to munch on her sandwich. "Well, what kinda "somethings" are we talking about? "I couldn't really tell you for sure, could be anything, changlings, manticores, sphinx, valkyries, Trolls, Wyverns." "Sunset, I Know the Sirens managed to exist on earth for this long, but I seriously doubt this city could be hosting a parade of monsters like that without someon-" Norman was stopped mid-sentence by a mighty rumble that shook the ground. The entire shop sat in stunned silence, some of the patrons murmuring about an earthquake. Suddenly another followed it, this time sounding closer. The rumbles continued, growing louder and nearer with each passing moment. Until finally, as it had almost assuredly reached the door, it stopped, much to the relief of the shops many customers. This relief was short lived however, as the silence so gave way to a loud crashing sound as the front wall was torn asunder by a giant, winged reptillian beast with gangly limbs. Norman's eyes widened, pure unrelenting fear gripping him as he seized up like a deer in headlights. "Sunset....if I ask what that thing is, would you be willing to lie to me and say it gives hugs or free candy or something." Sunset, who was in a similarly jarred state, shook her head vigorously before glaring at the creature in contempt. "Not gonna sugar-coat it Norman, it does nothing of the sort, That's a jabberwocky." "You mean the one with jaws that bite and claws that catch!?" "I'm afraid so, you stay here Norman, I gotta go figure out a game-plan with the girls." Norman complied by quickly darting under his bar, pressing the Silent alarm underneath and praying that Sunset would be alright. Meanwhile Sunset was in full-focus mode as she rushed over to her friends table, through all the screaming and panicing civilians, and called out to them. "Guys, we've got an emergency." "We can see that for ourselves Sunset, what is that thing?" Rainbow replied exasperatedly. "A jabberwocky." "A jabber-whatnow?" Applejack questioned. "Y'know, jaws that bite, claws that catch, real bad news basically." Sunset stated dryly "So how on earth are we gonna stop it?" "Well I think I might have a way, but I'll need some stuff "from home" First." Meanwhile, at the other end of the table, Fluttershy's eyes widened as she stared up at the massive creature. "Whatever you do Sunset I think you'll need to do it fast, look!" Flutteryshy pointed up at the creatures claw to reveal what was in it's grasp, a rather terrified Berry Punch, Currently being waved around by the creature as it had already begun yelling out demands to some beat cops who had arrived on the scene. Sunset's pupils shrank with horror as she saw the girl being shaken around like a ragdoll by the merciless reptile. Deciding to take action, she cast a nervous glance to the creatures head to make sure it was distracted, before walking behind it and attempting to whisper to the hostage. "Berry, don't worry, we'll get you out of here." The young mulberry girl smiled groggily at her, clearly dizzy from being shaken about so violently. Sunset felt the urge to smile back, before she was reminded of her earlier interactions with the girl. "....And uh, also i'm sorry for snapping at you earlier." "Oh, don't worry about that Sunset." Berry replied, still retaining her groggy smile. "I probably shouldn't have interrupted you when you were trying to talk to Norman, I'm sure it was important." "Well, either way It hardly gave me any right to get so hostile with you, and I'd kinda hoped I'd already gotten past that kind of behavior." "It's alright, nobodies perfect, and the fact that you're apologizing already means so much." "Thanks Berry, and I promise, i'll try and make it up to you later, somehow." "Well, if you wanna make it up to me..." She gestured towards her giant scaly captor, who was still engaged in negotiation with the local police. "Right, right I'm on it, Pinkie!" Pinkie Pie stepped forward and gave Sunset a salute. "You and the rest of the girls stay here and try to keep this thing from doing anything rash, I'm gonna go grab some reagents from the portal and try to cast a Vorpal enchantment." "Oki doki loki." Pinkie responded quietly, pulling out a megaphone and zipping over to the police blockade. Meanwhile the rest of the group gave a quick thumbs up before taking up their own places to try and help talk the creature down. Nodding in confirmation, Sunset slowly began to sneak away from the monster and out the door, before frantically sprinting towards Canterlot high once she was sure she was out of perceptible range. A thousand thoughts rushed through her head, most of them involved worrying about her friends, or wondering where the jabberwocky had come from and why it had suddenly decided to attack an innocent little soda shop and get itself cornered by law enforcement. But among those valid and completely understandable concerns, only one managed to stick out to her for some odd reason. I need to remember my wallet next time I go out. Author's Note whew, this took a waaaay longer time than it probably should have I think, I might go ahead and look into some better methods of writing so I can get these out faster and maybe have them come out slightly less "rambling" (part of it is probably my scheduling being "whenever Its late enough that I feel like I have to do it.") regardless, go ahead and toss in some feedback, tell me what I've been doing wrong, what I've been doing right or even just where you'd like to see this go. Early to Sunset, Early to RiseAuthor's Note Well, this was probably one of my hardest to write, worse yet its probably the one I've felt the worst about. No matter how I've done It I don't think I've ever gotten a version I'm completely happy with. While I don't want to list off all the things that upset me here (I don't want to put any bias in your view of it) I'll say two big things were trying to write a narrated flashback sequence and the fact that, that flashback sequence sorta put Sunset in a position to be all mopey again. Hopefully though this difficulty is just a speedbump and the next chapter will proceed much more smoothly, until then I hope you read this one and give me your thoughts on it. PS: probably some grammatical errors, but it's late so my editing will have to wait until morning. If you see any feel free to point them out, it makes it easier. Early to Sunset, Early to Rise "And so we all gathered here today to witness the coronation of Equestria's newest Princess! Sunset Shimmer!" the gathered crowd filled Canterlot castle with thunderous applause, as Sunset Shimmer, the lady of the hour, stood in absolute radiance, her wings majestically unfurled for the whole world to see. With a light gesture from her hoof the newly crowned princess called for quiet from her subjects, and slowly they all seemed to comply, their vigorous stomping and clapping eventually dying down. "Let me just say how honored I am to be standing here before you today, not only a princess, but also a changed mare. For I admit, there was a time when I was scrambling in the darkness, searching for power and status without so much as a passing thought for others. And I might still have been on that dark and resentful path to this day, had it not been for the intervention of Princess Twilight Sparkle...." She pointed a hoof at a purple alicorn in attendance nearby, who blushed slightly as crowd began to cheer and applaud for her. " ...The support of my nearest and dearest friends..." At that a small group of humans, comprised of Pinkie,Rainbow Dash, Rarity,Applejack,and Fluttershy clapped loudly, their tall biped frames clearly visible even as far back as they were situated. "....And of course, the affection and compassion of my dearly beloved, Norman!" As Sunset spoke that name, the crowded sea of ponies parted, not that they needed to, for the young human for whom they made way clearly towered over all of them. He gave a kindly smile as he walked over to the yellow mare, who gratefully returned it as she hovered up to eye level and nuzzled him affectionately, the warm show of affection met with a chorus of "aww's" from the gathered crowd. Upon completion of the nuzzling, Sunset pulled back and looked into the warm amber eyes of her beloved, framed perfectly by his long, silky, brown hair. "Sunset...Darling..." He said briskly, his voice slightly more....."posh" then she remembered. "Yes, Norman?" "...Could you Please roll over or something, you're getting drool all over my new coat.." Sunset snapped awake, quickly realizing that she had fallen asleep in the car and more to the point, was currently drooling on Rarity's shoulder. She quickly moved away from Rarity's completely fabulous new designer jacket, wiping the drool off of her face and blushing in embarrassment. "Sorry Rarity, guess i'm just really tired from.." "Fighting a giant fire breathing lizard to the death with a flaming sword?" "....yeah, that." Rarity smiled and gave Sunset a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Think nothing of it dear, after all, I'm sure whatever dream you were having about this "Norman" person was certainly worth it." Her comment earned a light blush from Sunset, as she thought back to the dream, and what humiliating things she might have said out loud had the dream not ended when it did. Thankfully she didn't have to worry about it for too long as the car slowly pulled up to their destination, The Humble Apple family abode. Which was good, because being packed between Rarity and Applejack for the entire trip had put Sunset in the crossfire of their petty arguments, and truth be told, she wasn't entirely certain she could survive another scuffle at ground zero. Pinkie Pie slowly pulled the "party van" into the driveway, her face eschewed with a rather uncharacteristic look of concentration. She'd always hated parking uphill, and it was especially difficult with the apple families vehicles already parked beside her. Finally, after some very careful adjusting, pinkie brought the van to a stop and gave everyone else in the van an affirmative "thumbs up" , a gesture everyone took as a sign to begin piling out of the overcrowded van. "he he....well if you all don't look like a bunch a wild turkeys on the night before thanksgiving, slow down there whippersnappers there ain't no rush." came a kindly old voice just next to them, belonging to Granny Smith, who was currently being helped out of her own vehicle by Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle. Eventually after some struggling, the six managed to escape the vehicle and enter the house. Inside the Crusaders had already begun recounting the events from earlier today at the Soda Club. "-and then the big scaly monster thing grabbed Berry Punch!" Squeaked Sweetie Belle to the two silently smiling and nodding adult figures, all the while clenching her fist to represent the creature holding Berry in its claw. "And the cops were all like! "We have the area surrounded!" Added scootaloo, who had her index finger and thumb out to form an imaginary "gun" which she pointed at the Sweetie Belle monster. Suddenly Applebloom joined in, valiantly wielding a rolled up newspaper against the sweetie-beast. "But then Sunset came outta nowhere and was like "get away from her you..bi-erm....you itch! and then she cut its head clean off! and it was all like bluuurg and she was all like-" "Hehe...alright youngins ah think that's enough tall tales for one....." Granny Smith found herself unable to finish, as she took a glance towards the doorway, and, thanks to the ample lighting of the apple family home, saw the state of each of the six girls. The first was Sunset who's Signature leather jacket was torn in several places, revealing a number of vicious claw-marks she had earned in her battle, and in her hand was a replica broadsword, bought at a nearby pawnshop and currently glowing a dim teal color from it's vorpal enchantment. Right behind her was an uncharacteristically grumpy looking Pinkie Pie, most likely upset with the many scorch marks on her hair and clothes, along with the tiny ember of flame still present at the tip of her hair curl. Fluttershy was attending to a nasty looking bruise on Rainbow Dash's abdomen where the creature struck her with its tail. Applejack fiddled with a makeshift bandage Rarity had applied to her head after the Jabberwocky had backhanded her, hard. And Finally, Rarity herself seemed to be hiding whatever scarring or bruises she had earned behind a new jacket she'd acquired at some point, which she held tightly over her body. "Well shut mah mouth an call me a jackalope, what happened to ya'll? an' please tell me why ya ain't at the hospital getting treated for all......THIS!" Granny demanded as she moved to try and help Sunset over to the coach. "Well, Applebloom and her friends covered most of it, as for why we're not at the hospital...it's.....well it's partly my fault.." Sunset looked down guiltily, a painful expression crossing her face, although one couldn't be sure if it wasn't from her various wounds. "...I, I didn't want to risk the doctors becoming suspicious of me, considering I've got no background, no family, no birth certificate.....and I guess I told the girls about this and..." "And ah suggested that maybe we could come here and get a check up from the family physician instead." Applejack interrupted, nervously scratching the back of her head as she was set upon by granny smith's harshest glare. The Apple Family matriarch mulled over her granddaughter's request, silently considering the ramifications of going along with their little plan. She'd have to schedule an appointment and it was unlikely their physician would be able to come over tonight,she'd have to tell the other girls parents that she was having them over, and she didn't rightly enjoy lying to her neighbor's especially with something like this. Unfortunately whilst pondering what to do about this situation Granny had made the mistake of looking towards Sunset's face, and was thus greeted by what could only be described as "weaponized puppy eyes". "Ah suppose ah can schedule an appointment with Zecora tomarrow." Granny Smith barely had time to react before Sunset clung to her in a spontaneous hug, small Tears forming in her eyes as she blurted out her gratitude. "Thank you, Thank you, THANK YO-" Unfortunately, Sunset's Acute sense of self awareness had managed to kick in too late, and only in the midst of her impromptu hug had she realized the awkward situation she had created for herself. She looked around to the other girls, and while most tried to keep up a good poker face, they were all obviously either trying not to laugh, attempting to suppress the urge to "daaaw" at her, or some kind of combination of the two. Sunset hastily let go of Applejacks grandmother, immediately straightening out her clothes and clearing out her throat in an ultimately futile attempt to deflect the embarrassment she had just earned. "T-thank you very much Miss Smith." "Aw ain't no trouble dear, but, how's about you girls try not ta make a habit a' getting this banged up." "Deal." After talking to their parents and assuring them that they were fine and had decided to spend the night at Applejack's, the girls made their way into the kitchen for a quick snack before going upstairs. While Pinkie, Applejack and Rainbow were busying themselves gathering a bag of chips and some finger sandwiches, Rarity and Fluttershy had both decided to grab a much lighter plate of vegetables and dip. Sunset meanwhile, looked on passively, her own snack limited to a can of iced tea and a few peanuts. Applejack looked up from her sandwich to stare quizzically at Sunset and her meager portion of food. "Is that all yer gonna have? Y'know their's plenty to eat and we sure as heck don't mind." "No, that's alright Applejack, I'm actually not that hungry right now, I already ate pretty recently at the Soda Club this afternoon." "Oh? and did you happen to eat in the company of this "Norman" fellow we keep hearing about?" "W-well yes, but that doesn't mean anything, I was just hungry, so I ordered something to eat while I was talking with Norman about..." Immediately something "clicked" in Sunset's head causing her to let out a severely agitated groan. "urgh....dammit, I didn't get a chance to schedule our da-erm...our day off, his day off, with me, not mine of course because I don't really wor-" Rarity placed her hand upon Sunset's shoulder, inturrupting the unicorn girl in the middle of her long winded explanation. "Darling please, Just stop, you're not fooling anybody." "Am I that obvious?" "Well Sunset, you were saying his name in your sleep, I doubt you dream about just any boy you meet with." Sunset gave a defeated sigh before helping herself to another handful of peanuts. "Alright fine, so I've kinda got my eye on a boy, It's not a big deal, at least not compared to the giant lizard monster that we fought." "Not a big deal! Sunset this could be your soulmate, your one and only, your knight in shining armor!" "Or he could just be a guy.....A really cute, mature, and well spoken guy, but still just a guy, and you could stop digging into it so much." In the midst of her arguing Sunset had already begun angrily cramming her snack into her mouth all the while continuing to level a glare at Rarity that told her to drop the subject. "Y-Yes, dreadfully sorry darling, I didn't it mean to pry." Sunset's expression softened, and after swallowing her food she gave her fashionista friend a warm smile. "It's alright Rarity, I know romance tends to be one of your.....Interests, I just, dunno if I wanna get into all the details of my....relationship status, right now." Rarity nodded in response and for the most part seemed to drop the issue. Sunset had been able to enjoy the blessed silence for a few more minutes before another voice began to speak up, this time from Rainbow Dash. "So when exactly did this start?" The ex-unicorn gave an indignant huff before cramming another handful of food in her mouth and angrily looking away from the rainbow haired athlete, clearly not willing to dignify her question with any kind of response. Suddenly, a gasp came from across the kitchen. Everyone's heads swiveled around towards the direction of the sound, only to see Pinkie Pie, having nearly dropped her canned soda in her utter shock. "Hold on a minute!" Rainbow sighed as she prepared herself to help get her pink haired friend up to speed. "You mean you all don't know?" The eyes of the entire group widened in response to Pinkie's statement, each of them moving slightly closer to hear what their friend had to say. "Sunny's been crushing on Norman ever since,well......probably forever." Immediately Sunset began making a cutting motion with her hand at her neck, indicating she wanted Pinkie to drop this particular subject. "Are you all right Sunny? Y'know you really shouldn't eat those peanuts so fast, you might get one caught in your throat or something." Before Sunset could finish swallowing the food in her mouth so she could properly reply, Rarity saw her chance and spoke up. "So, how exactly do you know this darling?" "Oooh story time! gimmie a sec and i'll tell you!" Pinkie chirped happily as she rummaged through her hair and eventually pulled out a large, well decorated book. "It was a many moons ago....and by "many moons" I mean a couple months...." I had been skipping through the hallways on my merry way to french class, On the way I noticed a guy in an orange jacket and a green hat. I was about to wave to him when I noticed Sunset Shimmer and her two not-so-friendly friends Snips and Snails coming down the hall. Thinking fast, I did a super-stealthy tactical roll behind a trash can to avoid their attention. Herm.....so that wasn't a garbage goblin like I thought. Thought Sunset as she listened to Pinkie Pie's sordid tale. Wait, if she was behind that garbage can, then that means she saw.....no, no she couldn't have. Thick beads of sweat rolled down Sunset's face as she thought of a way to escape this unfortunate situation. Once I'd gotten behind my super secret hiding spot I peeked out to see if they were gone, Thats when I saw it, snips and snails each had Greenhat-boy by one of his arms, It was like tug a war, except kinda painful looking and....actually everyone involved was probably having more fun then they would in an actual game of tug a war. "Hello Norman." Sunset said as she loomed over him like a vulture... "V-Vulture?" "Uh...did I say vulture? what I meant to say was Sunset loomed over him like a....uh....canary, yeah a canary,let's go with that. Anyways, after all the looming and dooming she moved in closer to him, smiled and put her hand on his cheek and I was thinking "Awwww, thats so sweet, maybe she's not so bad after all". And then WHAMMO! she reels back and punches him in the stomach! and I immediately end up taking back all the nice things I was thinking about her. So there he is sputtering and probably coming close to losing his lunch, or was it before lunch that this happened? no, I definatly had french class after lunch, anyways, Sunset turned to her two baddy-buddies and started bossing them around. "Give him a couple more, otherwise he might get away" They didn't look happy about being told to beat up a fellow classmate, but I guess nobody was really happy about the situation, Still, they gave him a few good...or bad from his point of view....punches before Sunset told them to ease up. "Alright, he should be tired enough, get off him already." So they let go of him, and he starts trying to walk, but he's all wobbly and shaky like whatever Granny smith has been serving as a side dish for the past week. "For the last time Pinkie,It was just vegetable Jell-O." Said applejack crossly,though her indignant rage was somewhat downplayed by Rainbow Dash's snickering. "Unnatural is what it was, I mean carrots, spinach,broccoli, what has jello done to deserve that? But we're getting sidetracked and i've been told by the school counselor that that's one of my biggiest weaknesses." Pinkie started looking over the book again to try figure out where she had left off, until she saw Sunset out of the corner of her eye, looking sullen and miserable, her eyes downcast in shame. The other girls followed Pinkie's gaze, and immediately the entire room had begun to don their own shameful expressions, as they realized how damning the story must have been for her. Setting her book aside, Pinkie walked over to Sunset and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I'm really sorry Sunset, I forgot how "uncomfortable" this story gets, I can stop now if you want." Sunset looked up at her friends, all of their faces clearly expressing regret for their prying. If she asked them to drop it now they likely would, she'd never have to hear this again, Norman had already forgiven her, she could just continue on with a fresh start, as if none of it had happened. But it had happened, and someone suffered for it. Despite what Norman said, a part of her knew it couldn't be that easy at the very least he didn't deserve to be swept under the rug like that after all he went through because of her. "It's fine, go ahead Pinkie." "Sunset, darling, just remember no matter what goes on in the story, we'll never think less of you." Said rarity, as she joined Pinkie Pie in comforting the distraught unicorn "Besides, you saved the day from a bunch of nightmare creatures at least three times already, pretty sure that cancels out anything you might have done." Added Rainbow Dash "Heh, I suppose so" "Alright then, back to the story..." Well Sunset grabbed the wibbly wobbly boy and swiped his hat, which seemed strange to me at first, I mean it wasn't even her color and I'm pretty sure she'd never been a hat person either. So she keeps waving it in his face, and just when it looks like Normy is about to get ahold of it she always pulls it away, Norman doesn't seem to happy with this, so he yells for her to give his hat back and calls her a bunch of stuff that I don't wanna repeat in polite company. She gets mad, madder then I'd ever seen her before and i'd seen her pretty mad back in those days, so that's when she gives him the meanest kick i'd seen since that chorus-line incident at band practice the other week right in the gigglebits. The entire group, including Sunset, collectively winced. Of course now he's in lots of pain and stumbling around, so then Sunny grabbed him by the jacket and pulled him towards her. Right away something smelled rotten in canterlot, first off she doesn't have that queen meanie look on her face while she was doing this, in fact for the most part she looked kinda sad, either about all the super-no-no words he'd called her or the fact that she just kicked him in the fun-parts. Plus, she held him alot closer and for alot longer than you would expect someone to hold their victim, I mean he was squirming, struggling, saying all sorts of swear words at her and she just kept on holding him and looking vaguely sorry. But after a while, her friends got bored and started asking if she's done yet,from the surprised look on her face I'm guessing she'd forgotten they were there. She gives them a big scary glare before telling them that they're free to leave if they're so impatient, which they do, probably because after asking she'd started glaring at them even harder. So then it was just her and Norman, for the most part, I thought about stepping in, buuuuut I didn't think I had a good enough explanation for why I was watching people from behind garbage cans. Eventually, after the one-sided cuddling was over she let Norman go, and by that I mean she angrily shoved him away, he on the other hand just spun around and glared at her. I'm not sure EXACTLY what happened after that, but I think Normie spat on her shoes or something. Needless to say she got kinda mad and grabbed him by the collar, then she raised her fist, like she was about to sock him one and from his flinching I think he assumed it too. Luckily she lowered her fist back down and let him go. "A nobody like you isn't worth the hassle, get back to class before I decide to tell the teachers about how you've been spending your time skipping." I tell you I'd never seen anyone as red in the face as Normie was that day, He looked so angry I thought he was gonna explode! or at least burst into flames or something. But, he didn't seem to want to get in trouble, and to be honest I don't think he could have actually taken Sunset, I mean didja see that fight with that giant jabberwopper thing? although I guess he wouldn't have seen it since it hadn't happened yet, Unless he's some kind of time traveler or something, that would explain his weird clothes actually. Speaking of weird clothes, after basically being told to just "deal with it" from Sunset he'd decided to try and grab his hat back from her, but just like before, once he started reaching for it she moved it out of his reach. "You'll get this back later, if you're a good boy." They were both really quiet for a while, Sunny was giving a slightly smug smile, while Norman looked like he was trying to glare her into a pile of ashes, eventually he walked off to class in a huff, leaving Sunny all alone. "Hold on, this doesn't sound like much of an attraction." Rainbow interrupted, loudly before shoveling a handful of chips into her mouth. The rest of the group mumbled slightly in agreement, none of them really seeing how a story of ball-kicking and hat-stealing was connected to romantic intent. Pinkie looked over to Sunset, who after mulling it over a little bit, stepped forward, towards the center of the group. "I think it's best if I finish the story, I want you girls to....understand where I was coming from." The girls each looked at each other, before nodding in confirmation, inviting her to proceed with her part of the story. "So, like Pinkie said I was left alone in the hallway, after i'd chased Norman off. Just standing around the empty hallway, eventually I decided to make my way back to my locker. It wasn't too far away, i'd actually only happened upon Norman on my way here." "I wasn't in too much of a hurry though, especially since the whole affair left a bitter taste in my mouth." Sunset's voice started to lower, as if she was trying, and failing to reconcile herself. "Look, what you guys gotta understand is, back then, I was afraid to show weakness to anyone, I'd already climbed so high, and I felt like everyone else was kind of just waiting to push me down." "On the way to my locker i'd started reflecting, I told myself it had only started as harmless fun, that he could have taken a few swings, that the kick to the groin was his fault for trying to piss me off." "Even back then I knew that was bullshit, I'd wanted an excuse to get close to him, as much as I hated to admit it I really liked him, everyone else I knew seemed to scramble to find a spot or a role or an image in canterlot high, and Norman for the most part, just seemed content to be a face in the crowd or a shoulder to lean on." "But unlike him, I needed to keep up appearances, if I was going to keep control of the school, I couldn't be seen going out with, or even being nice to someone like him. Plus, he was with that girlfriend of his, Blueberry Cake. Not that I cared, but it probably didn't help my chances with him." "It frustrated me, and I started getting angry with him, which was stupid since it wasn't even his fault, but then I guess I was pretty stupid back then." Sunset chuckled alittle bit, it was interesting how a hindsight worked, she'd spent so much time trying to forget what had happened, and yet here, looking back had already given her so much more insight into her situation. "So either way, I got to my locker, grabbed my books, looked in the mirror to check my hair all that kinda stuff, and while I'm trying to do all of this I remember I still have Normans hat." "To be perfectly honest, I've always hated the damned thing. It was puke green, ratty, and looked like something a stoner would wear. At first I'd figured I would just toss the rag in the trash and forget about it, but then I remembered it was Normans and I promised I'd give it back. But, well, that thought lead me to another thought" Sunset started to shift nervously as she recalled what she had done, the rest of the group giving her mildly concerned looks as she attempted to continue on. "Well, that's when I realized that Norman wore it almost all the time, so, it probably.....smelled like him. So I started....kinda....sniffing it." The entire room went dead silent. Pinkie Pie was quietly twiddling her thumbs near the counter, her token attempt at occupying herself so as to not say anything that might exacerbate the situation. Fluttershy was making an effort to hide within her own hair in an attempt to hide her blush while Rarity attempted to comfort her with a pat on the shoulder. A loud and uncomfortable cough broke through the silence, it's source was Applejack, who after getting everyones attention, went on to speak. "Ah gotta admit Sugarcube that seems ah might bit....." "Creepy?" Rainbow offered bluntly "Ah was gonna say Odd" Applejack responded irritably. "It's not creepy!" Sunset shouted defensively, causing both her friends to jump at the sudden outburst. "I mean....Ponies...or...."Equestrians" have a more developed sense of smell than humans, so we tend to associate people by their smells more often than not." "OHHHH What do I smell like Sunset?" Asked Pinkie Pie excitedly. "A Sugar coma" Sunset replied flatly. "So, I guess Pinkie saw yah doin....that and figured out you had a thing for the boy?" Applejack asked tentatively. "Well she was also mumbling his name while she did it, she also mentioned something about taking him on a "Pony Ride"." Near instantly Sunsets face shifted from its usual warm, yellow tinge to a bright and all too obvious shade of red. "Pinkie!!" Sunsets scolding was quickly drowned out over Rainbows outburst of laughter. "Bwhahaha, I'm sorry Sunny but that's just too rich, you must really have it for this guy." The former unicorn mulled over the question briefly. A part of her always felt cheated in not being able to even express her interest in Norman, in having to be his bully rather than his friend or better yet, maybe his partner. All this time, the past months, this week, tonight, she'd always ended up stewing over some past transgression. Maybe she did some bad things, but she pushed through it, she kept a stiff upper lip and she got over it, and maybe now....maybe now she was entitled to something nice, maybe she deserved a little chance at love after all was said and done. "I....I'd like a second chance with him, to show him how I've always felt about him, if he'll forgive me." "Well, he....already has hasn't he?" Fluttershy offered curiously "I mean, you talked to him earlier today didn't you? I just...assumed if he wanted to talk to you, he might, well, be ok with you now." Briefly, Sunset recalled the interaction, Norman did seem to forgive her at some point, but truth be told, she still felt dissatisfied with his reasoning. "Yeah, I suppose he did." "Of course he did Sunset" Rainbow chimed in as she patted Sunset on the shoulder. "Like I said you've changed, you saved the day from the Sirens, the windigo's and that nasty jabberwiki thing, you're practically a superhero by now, he probably hasn't asked you out already because he's so star struck, I know, I've had it happen to alot of guys around me." A light, giggle escaped Sunset, which didn't go completely unnoticed by Rainbow Dash despite her decision to ignore it. "You really think it'll be that easy Rainbow?" Sunset asked with mild amusement. Before the rainbow haired athlete could give a response, Pinkie Pie lept forward and responded for her. "We'll help you get your studmuffin, right girls?" "Well, um I don't think i'd discribe it quite like that, but um...." "We'd be happy to help you darling" "I dunno if ah'd be much good but I'm here for yah if yah need me" The former unicorn smiled and blushed happily all the help she'd been offer, each of her friends, with smiles on their faces and warmth in their heart, had reminded her how much life had given her already, namely some great friends that she needed to spend more time with. "Thanks girls, listen, i'm really glad you want to help, and I'm grateful. But let's not worry about that right now, I've got plenty of time for Norman and we haven't had a good get together like this in a while, tonight should be all for us." True, she was still planning to try her luck with Norman but that would be later, right now she was planning on drinking over-caffinated drinks, playing video games that would give censorship companies heart attacks, and staying up all night with her friends. With a slightly over-dramatic flourish Sunset grabbed her fairly lukewarm can of iced tea from the counter top and held it out in front of her. "Here's to us!" She said confidently, tilting the top of her can so as to indicate what she wanted them to do. "Here's to us!" They repeated happily as they tapped the tops of their own respective sodas/vegetable juices/totally-non-alchoholic ciders to hers. And with that, the sleep over started in full force, Rainbow elected to start things off with a "Brutal combat 7" tournament, which of course Applejack won despite Rainbow Dash unplugging her controller by "accident". Though Pinkie Pie claims Applejack only won because Fluttershy had forfeit. (Fluttershy of course, declined comment.) Afterwords, the night proceeded with a peculiar Board-game Pinkie Pie had somehow dug out of the cold depths of the apple families cupboard called "Betrayal at the Twin Sisters Mansion!" Wherein Rainbow Dash had managed to get her revenge on Applejack by commanding her army of superpowered serial killers to dismember Applejacks frail, slightly insane, pocket knife armed, small child character. Unfortunately Rainbow's victory was short-lived, as her armored, spear wielding warden-possessed Movie star, fell to a round of buckshot fired from Sunset's pump action shotgun, Which caused Rarity to comment that her character was almost as good at monster hunting as Sunset was in real life. Finally the night winded down to a close as the girls all came off their respective Sugar highs and showed Signs of sleepiness. Fluttershy had made the Suggestion that they watch a quiet movie together to help them all get to sleep, which all of them gladly agreed to. Rarity had suggested the film they ended up watching, it was an old black and white film that they were all honestly Surprised the apple family even owned (including Applejack herself) called "Casabronco". The film opened with a somewhat familiar scene, a lively bustling club tended by a cold and distant bartender. Sunset smirked lightly at the irony, she supposed she couldn't completely dodge her feelings for the rest of the night, the movie continued onward with tales of sinster secret police, brave freedom fighters and lost and bitter lovers even as she found her eyelids growing heavier and heavier. She gave a quick glance towards the other sleeping bags, their own occupants already showing signs of descending into sleep with their various yawns and half lidded eyes. Immediately after she gave her own yawn, indicating she too was succumbing to sleep. She would finish watching the movie later, she decided. As she settled into her sleeping bag, and let the slow piano music lull her closer and closer to dreamland, she found her thoughts drifting back to her own soft spoken bartender. I wonder what he's thinking about right now. And with that, the ember haired girl concluded her weird, wild, and wonderful day, and drifted off to sleep. A helping hand for a normal manHand in Hand with his date, Norman walked away from the theater rather contented, albeit with his wallet somewhat lighter. "So, how did you like the movie Sunshine?" Sunset, Currently sporting the monstrous features she'd acquired during the fall formal event, gave a weak smile in response, though with her razor sharp fangs, it was hard to tell if it was a genuine smile of contentment or a predatory one. Norman chuckled nervously, slightly worried at his date flashing such sharp canines at him. Wondering silently how easily she could rend him apart with them. "Well either way, the night is still young, anything in particular you feel like doing?" The she-demon tapped a clawed finger to her chin, silently contemplating her various choices as she looked around. Eventually, her gaze settled on something, immediately giving a quick "squee" before dragging Norman over to it. The first thing Norman took note of was the warm, inviting smell of freshly cooked cinnamon rolls, Even before she stopped and let him get a good look at the sign, he already recognized the place as Sugar Cube corner, one of his competitors. "....Isn't there anywhere.....else you might wanna go Sunshine?" Truth be told, Norman didn't have a problem with the Cakes, proud owners of sugar cube corner, but he'd usually seen it as bad business practice to be seen at a competitors sweet shop. Besides that,the place had an annoying habit of making him spend far more than he'd intended to going in. But, seeing Norman's trepidation, Sunset quickly adopted a sad, "puppy eyed" expression, or at least the closest she could approximate with her pitch black eyes and tiny blue pupils. With a light sigh and a roll of his eyes Norman walked over to the double doors of the illustrious bakery and pulled one open, gesturing for his date to walk inside. With a Triumphant smirk, the demon-pony-girl marched inside, Norman dutifully following after her. For the life of him, Norman never understood the cake's choice of decor, He supposed since it was mostly a bakery the obtrusive pink decorations and pastel white walls weren't completely out of place, but considering its placement in the Pony-villa shopping centre it's "fancy and frilly" atmosphere seemed like it'd come off as too "highbrow" for it's general consumers. "HI SUNNY! HI NORMIE!" With a Sudden start Norman was shocked out of his analysis of the shop by the VERY sudden appearance of one of it's employees, Pinkie Pie. "Goddammit Pinkie! Don't scare me like that, I have enough health problems without you popping out of the ether just to give me a heart attack!" "oooh sorry Normie, I was just really excited to see you and Sunny together." Norman winced slightly at the word "together". "eh....let's not go building any rumors, Sunset and me are just hanging out, as friends, right Sunny?" Rather than answer, the young demoness instead opted to wrap one of her giant, bat-like wings around Norman, quickly pulling him closer to her for a rather uncomfortable nuzzle. To his credit, he tried not to make his horror too apparent, instead simply asking Pinkie to find them a table in a slightly shaky voice. "One table for the happy couple coming up!" Norman would have objected to being called a couple, but as it so happened, he was far more concerned with wondering how Sunset's face nuzzling against his arm could both burn him and suck all the warmth out of his body, simultaneously. Luckily they arrived at their table shortly and thus Sunset was forced to relinquish his arm in order to seat herself across from him, much to his relief. "Alright so you're going to have your usual, right Sunny?" Sunset nodded affirmatively. "Alright and for you Norman?" "A cinnamon roll, actually no,make it a dozen. Everyone back home will probably get upset if I don't bring them anything." "Okie Dokie Lokie! one chocolate strawberry milkshake and a dozen cinnamon rolls coming right up." As Pinkie left to get their orders, Sunset quietly removed her jacket and placed it over her chair, giving Norman a much better look at her figure, which he had to admit, even in demonic form, was quite lovely. It took him a few moments before he lifted his gaze from her lithe body to continue looking her in the face, and almost immediately a small amount of shame set in as he realized she'd probably noticed his staring. Luckily she didn't seem to mind, and flashed Norman another razor-toothed smile, which, feeling relieved at not offending her, he happily returned. Suddenly the familiar feeling of burning and cold were present in his hand once more, and he looked downward to see Sunset's clawed hand taking hold of his own. He wanted to jerk his hand away, wanted to tell her she was going too far and that he didn't like her that way. But looking back up at the long, toothy smile on her face, he couldn't bring himself to say it aloud. She wasn't hurting anyone, not anymore, he could stomach it for a little while longer if it made her happy. "Oh my, what a cute couple." Norman immediately felt his stomach lurch as he heard the gushing comment from an elderly couple seated next to him. A blush of hot shame washed over him, tinted with the tiniest flash of indignent anger. So he was having a nice time together with someone, it didn't obligate him to be "with" her like that. Rather firmly he pulled his hand away from her, looking away either in sustained anger or slight guilt as she adopted a confused and hurt expression. He didn't owe her anything like THAT, not after everything she did to him. And where did those two get off pinning them together just because theirs parts match up? It wasn't enough that they were looking over their shoulders to gawk at someone else having dinner they had to butt in with their vapid, stupid, ignorant- "Excuse me?" Norman looked up from his internalized rant to see Pinkie Pie, sporting a concerned look as she balanced both their orders on her metal tray. From the look on her face she had some idea of what he'd been thinking about, perhaps he'd been letting his anger show in his expressions, he'd have to be more careful about that. "Uh....right, our food, thank you pinkie" "Yeah, Your welcome" After retrieving their orders from Pinkie he looked down at his own bakers dozen box of cinnamon rolls. Silently doing the math in his head as to how many each member of his adoptive clan would get if he divided them evenly. Eventually he reasoned that he could give out two for each, including himself, before taking one and looking back up at his date, currently looking ashamed and downtrodden while silently drinking her milkshake. Of course, upon noticing his gaze she immediately smiled, but he could tell it was a hollow "don't worry about me, eveythings fine" smile. He knew she was putting on a front for him, trying not to seem too upset by his rejecting her advances. A cold wave of guilt washed over him, even if he didn't like her that way, he probably didn't need to overreact like that. Very quickly he began thinking of a way to cheer her up, one that didn't involve leading her on in any way, as that was what had gotten him into this mess in the first place. Eventually, Norman settled on his food. "Uhh....would you like, a cinnamon roll Sunset?" Without waiting for her awnser, as it was somewhat likely she'd simply decline, he inched the box a little closer to her, indicating for her to grab one. Luckily that didn't seem to be the case, as she quickly grabbed one of the many pastries and bit into it. As she chewed the lovingly made gift from the pastry gods, her mood seemed to shift slightly, her weary and phoned in smile slowly melting into one of genuine contentment and appreciation. It was well worth his cinnamon roll, he decided,as he took a moment to enjoy her rapidly improving mood. Even if he couldn't quite give her.....everything...he was still happy to share what he could with her, she deserved to be happy as much as anyone else after all. He'd almost forgotten about his own delectable pastry until its scent wafted into his nostrils. Enthusiastically, he'd decided to heed its siren call and chomping it down, completely lost in the taste of his favorite sweet. Suddenly a tall glass filled with milkshake scooted into the corner of his vision, inched forward slowly by a bright crimson claw. Looking up, Norman was greated by the expectant expression of his date. Once again, Sunset zero'd in with her pitch black and blue pupiled puppy eyes, indicating her anticipation in having Norman accept a sip of her drink. After giving a warm smile and nod of appreciation he took a small sip of the frozen treat before passing it back to her. The Demoness gave another happy "squee" before continuing to sip the chocolaty beverage herself, all the while Norman looked on, an expression of mild amusement present in his face. Afterwords, the date proceeded similarly, with the pair casually sharing food, smiles and pleasant conversation. After finishing up they asked for the check, which Norman admitted he should probably pay since he'd gotten the bigger order and drank a bit of Sunset's milkshake anyways. Of course, try as he might Norman couldn't quite slip away from the bakery without drawing the attention of its enthusiastic pink haired employee. "Bye Norman, bye Sunny! you two lovebirds have fun.....oooh....but not too much fun!" Now, for anyone else such a comment might have invited embarressment or shame, but not Norman. No it was calmly and with great pride that he'd taken his dates hand and hastily made for the exit, all the while trying to keep his face out of sight so as not to give anyone from class any ideas about his relationship status. As they exited the confectionery shop, Norman Suggested they take their night to the local park, to enjoy the midnight air and maybe walk off the sweets they'd indulged in, especially after he and sunset ended up eating the rest of the cinnamon rolls anyways despite the niggling little worry in the back of his head that his family would be disappointed in him. Sunset seemed to agree with the idea, nodding happily and once again leading Norman by the arm along the path. The trees seemed far less, pleasant than usual, their branches arched over him as if hanging their heads in shame, Norman felt the need to turn his eyes away from them, for that look of shame and disappointment was all too familiar with him. After a few moments of being tugged around and facing they judgement of trees, they eventually came upon what Sunset wanted to show him, a large marble archway covered in vines. The structure's visage quickly sent Norman's heart overflowing with dread, and for the life of him he couldn't quite pin down why. He felt, beside himself with worry, and guilt for some odd reason, swiftly he turned his attention to Sunset and felt his heart sink to even further depths as he saw her jogging merrily down the path, looking back at him one last time to flash a warm smile before vanishing into the dark. Tentatively, Norman pushed down the fearful feeling in his gut and ran after her, desperately clinging to the strangely narrow pavement walkway, as if the ground beside it was a bottomless ravine. Slowly, but all too surely, the strange and gloomy trees gave way to more familiar venues, streetlamps cast over smooth sidewalks and solid red brick and mortar walls. He'd recognized this place, for he'd walked down it many times, it was the street he'd always taken to get to his school, Canterlot High. This did little to quell his nerves. If anything, the confirmation of where they were headed only served to worsen the chill in his heart. guilt had begun to tear even more readily at his heart. He had to find Sunset, he felt it in his bones, he had to protect her from something, what it was he had no idea, but a sinking feeling in his gut told him he was responsible for it somehow. Eventually, After almost instinctively following his usual path, walking briskly past the homeless gentleman in the cardboard shack and taking a hard right just shy of Camonberry road, Norman arrived at his school's courtyard, where he spotted Sunset, standing within the looming shadow of the school statue. The marble wondercolts mascot loomed over her menacingly, it's legs reared up as if preparing to crush her to death underneath its hooves. Suddenly, as if sensing someone watching her, she turned around, and upon realizing it was Norman regarded him with a smile and a wave, completely unphased by whatever was slowly working its sinister ways on the world. beads of sweat rolled down Normans neck as he looked up and the nightmarish equine statue. "....H-Hey Sunshine, Y'know....come to think of it, the park wasn't all that it's cracked up to be, why don't I take you to....the fair? yeah? maybe the guitar store? You like guitars.....I think.." Sunset only quirked her head in response before looking back up at the marble stallion, which he could have sworn was starting to grow even larger and more threatening. "Sunset....don't do this, just....just get away from that thing. we can still talk we can still-" No sooner had he spoken then six beams of light and color rose from the sky, within each of their shining sphere's was one of six winged, pony eared girls. Each of them slowly looked down upon Sunset, Looking over her, Judging her. The demon girl looked up at them slowly, casually, Almost welcoming their presence as she watched them form up around her. Norman reached out for her, He knew this was bad, he knew that somehow...someway this would end wrong. Worse then last time, even though he couldn't remember the last time either. "Sunset please, Let's just leave....This....This isn't right, this..." "...This is what you wanted, Isn't it?" Sunset said gently, her tone sweet and helpful. The question struck Norman like the cold blade of a knife piercing into his heart, one that had found its mark perfectly, as if it had been working its way into him all night. Before he could dispute her, the six ponified figures began casting their beams of chromatic light at Sunset, each blast piercing through her body, burning through her flesh. And through it all she simply smiled, even through the tears that welled from her eyes, and even as the light that was tearing into her grew bright and hotter, Until Norman was forced to look away for fear of being blinded. Once it was safe to, He looked again, only to find a huge smoldering crater where Sunset had been. He reassured himself that it would be fine, A still very much alive Sunset shimmer would be laying there just like last time, ready to learn about friendship or some crap and everything would be fine. But When the smoke cleared away, All that met Normans eyes was a tattered leather jacket, covered in ash. He fell to his knees, tears welling up in his eyes as he stared down at it, all the while her final words ringing in his ears, rattling in his skull. "I didn't....I...I didn't..." He tried to say that he didn't want this, that he wouldn't wish this on anyone, that he'd always cared for Sunset as much as everyone else. But the words caught in his throat, he'd remembered all too well what was in his head during the fall formal. The internal guilt twisted the knife further into him, tearing up his insides and forcing the tears to flow freely even as he tried to hold them back. Meanwhile the sky had begun to fill with more than just the six winged pony girls. Immediately, as if pulled from thin air three large serpent-horse-like creatures swam through the skies, each one snapping up the pony-girls one by one in their massive jaws. Each of the six friends fought back, Zipping around the monsters and blasting at them with beams of multicolored light. Still, none of them could ward off the creatures for more than a few precious moments. Norman knew it was hopeless, He didn't particularly know why, but he knew it had something to do with Sunset, and likewise he knew whatever had happened to her was his own fault. Tentatively, he crawled over to the leather jacket, all that had been left of her after the blast. "....I...I didn't.....mean it.....I didn't mean it.....I'm so sorry Sunset." Desperate and in tears, Norman took hold of the jacket, Sobbing into it as if some shred of her spirit could still hear him. "Please don't be gone.....I was wrong.....I was horribly wrong." Suddenly, amidst the despair and sobbing, He felt the warmth of a delicate, feminine hand touching his chin. For a moment, hope swelled within him, hope that this had not been the end of her, hope that she was there, like she was meant to be. Unfortunately, that hope was dispelled as the hand lifted his chin up, bringing him face to face with it's real owner. Adagio Dazzle, whom, despite her current human appearance, he knew to be one of the creatures that had been flying through the air, chasing down each of the six pony girls.. "Yes.....you were" Immediately Adagio's teeth sharpened, her jaws stretching to fearsome, crocadilian lengths as she let out a horrifying roar. It set Normans blood cold, and held him there, lethargic and trembling as the Creature ended its human masquerade and Re-assumed its monstrous form. When the horrifying spectacle finally ended, Norman found himself face to face with the toothy maw of a fully transformed siren rapidly closing down upon him, and the horrible sickening crunch that ended it all. ........................... Cold sweat clung to Normans face as he woke from a fitful nights sleep. Attempting to stand up only rewarded him with a throbbing pain in his lower back, A quick assessment of his surroundings immediately made it clear why. As, rather then his soft, warm bed provided by his dear, loving aunt, Norman found himself waking up on a cold, hard, slightly sticky bench in his soda shop. "Urgh....that's right, those asshats at the repair company. I had to stay here all night to make sure they didn't screw everything up." He grumbled contempt-fully, recalling the ordeal he went through finding someone to fix wall after the incident with the jabberwock creature. Once they had arrived Norman had to practically follow them everywhere, just to keep them from tearing out anything important like wires or plumbing,Not to mention making sure they weren't stealing anything from the kitchen. Still, despite being insufferable bums, they did good work. If he didn't know any-better, he would have thought a giant fiery hell-beast HADN'T crashed through his wall and threatened his life, friends, and livelihood. Unfortunately, Normans personal reflection was cut short, both from the pain in his lower back as well as a fresh new throbbing that took hold in his head. With a heavy groan, Norman finally managed to lift himself out of the ruby red booth seat he'd been laying on to get himself something to dull the pain. With a few groggy strides The young manager eventually made his way over to his counter, his primary work-space when managing the day to day affairs of his soda shop. Briefly, he took a moment to steady himself once he arrived, letting his hand rest on the cold and familiar countertop he'd so often conducted business on. After a moment or two, He soon began fumbling for something underneath his counter, idly patting his hand inside the small compartment he kept underneath it, full of the little essentials he'd need in his day to day work. One of those essentials was a stark white, industrial sized bottle of pills, covered in no less then ten warning labels. With the deftness of a trained addict, Norman quickly unscrewed the top of the bottle and began pouring an amount of pills far exceeding the recommended dosage into his hand. After quickly shoving the misused medicine in his mouth and quickly chugging a small cup of water to help force it all down his throat, Norman briskly walked over towards a nearby cupboard and quietly pulled out a mug and poured himself a serving of coffee from the coffee machine, which he'd thankfully remembered to set to automatic before he'd gone to bed. "mmm....mana from heaven." Paying little heed to the scorching heat of the beverage, Norman to a deep, long sip from the coffee cup. All the while mulling over last nights events. The repairs to his shop after the jabberwocky's rampage hadn't come cheap, In fact Fronting the bill right then and there seemed pretty much Impossible without severely hamstringing the budget for the rest of the year, which would drastically cut his business if he weren't able to deliver on his usual of goods for such a long time, hell plenty of menu items would likely need to be cut altogether. He could have pulled out a loan, but he wasn't exactly keen to trade one bill for a massive web of debt he could wind up tangled up in. Ultimately Norman decided to work with monthly payments, which would hopefully at least give him time to think of something better. Though a small part of him worried about the rates going up if he missed a payment. A light sigh escaped the teen's lips as he took another sip of his coffee, silently cursing the Canterlot high statue and all of its wicked magic. Nothing good ever seemed to come from that wretched hell-portal. Well, maybe one good thing Norman thought as his mind shifted back to the former equestrian bravely standing tall against the slavering reptile monster, while he.....well, cowered behind the counter and called the police. The young manager facepalmed, partially in shame at his own cowardice, and partially in an attempt to assuage the splitting pain still present in his head. Briefly he wondered if he'd inhaled something he shouldn't have during the repairs. Well, either way, I might as well get started, lord knows If I end up having to wake up here I might as well get some more done around the place. After taking a moment to stretch, Norman set himself to work. Mostly it was little things to help get the shop ready for the day ahead, Scrubbing all the calcified grease off the grills, washing out the cups that had been stained by overuse, and Introducing any vermin that had begun taking up residence around the shop to the bottom of his shoes. All the while, Norman found his mind inevitably wandering back to last night's somewhat troubling dream. Norman didn't know much about dreams and psychology, hell most of the time his dreams were far too boring to even recall, but here, he found it hard to shake the feeling it meant something. I was with Sunset, we were on, well a date I guess... Already Norman was forced to consider some hefty implications. Did he, subconsciously at least, feel attracted to Sunset? He certainly hoped not, reformed or not fawning over someone who beat you up didn't sound like particularly healthy behavior. Although, come to think of it imagining someone being blasted to ash by rainbows wasn't the perfect picture of mental health either. A chill quickly skittered its way down Normans spine as he remembered the Dire scene. If nothing else, he knew full well where that dreadful nightmare came from. Maybe it's best I don't look into it too hard, we've already started mending bridges, Last thing I need is to worry about crazy dreams or....what happened or didn't happen at the fall formal. And with that out of his mind for the time being, Norman quickly left for the sink to take a pseudo shower. Which in this case meant taking the spray nozzle and hosing himself down, after which he grabbed some breakfast in the form of some stale chips and some possibly expired lunch meat, the most cost effective thing he could find in the kitchen. Halfway through with his scrounged together meal (and regretting it somewhat), Norman heard the light jingle of the doorbell, signaling people arriving at his shop. And sure enough as he turned his gaze over towards the doorway in stepped Trixie Lulamoon, one of his "Loyal" employees. "The great and powerful Trixie has arrived on time wage-slave, now tell your accursed kin to stop dogging her at all hours of the day!" The young manager barely managed to contain the urge to roll his eyes at Trixie's outburst, Ever since they'd hired on the budding magician/musician, He'd found himself taking the brunt of her many complaints and concerns. "Oh yeah, it's so terrible that we want you to show up for work on time, we're such taskmasters." Came the voice of Normans "adoptive" cousin Chloe as she followed behind Trixie, flanked by her brother Cherry Cola. "C'mon Chloe, she's here now, on time, cut her some slack." Commented Cherry to her sister, Clearly trying to defuse the situation. Normally Norman would consider this a commendable en-devour. But, he also knew full well that if given an inch, Trixie would likely take a mile, and then complain that it should be nautical miles rather than regular miles. "Sorry to remind you, But I'm the one calling the shots here Cherry, and slack or lack thereof will be cut at MY discretion thank you very much." Norman stated briskly, drawing the attention of everyone gathered at the shop. Cherry visibly grimaced at the Sound Normans voice, taking a moment to glare at him before turning his head away with a light huff. True, maybe he was being kind of an ass, The fact that Auntie Jubilee had chosen him over Cherry to run the shop had been a source of constant frustration in the older teen. But, at the same time, He DID have a lovely consolation prize in the form of soft, brown, well kept hair, deep bronze skin, bright white teeth and a chiseled atlas-like physic. So Norman had trouble feeling THAT bad for him. Ignoring Cherry's response, Norman continued. "Anyways, since everyone's here, we might as well get started. Cherry, you're on Kitchen duty since Bakin hasn't shown up yet, Chloe, you're waiting tables, same as always, and Trixie, you'll be helping Chloe until you get called on stage." "What!? Why am I being forced to do menial labor? Trixie was contracted to preform, not.." "Yes, contracted to preform for ONE birthday party that was unexpectedly "Crashed", legally speaking I could say "not my problem" and throw your ass back out on the street with no pay. But, I'm giving you a second shot, and the faster we get everything moving and making money the faster you can get your check and be on your way." Trixie quickly fell silent, though clearly still upset she wasn't going to put up a fight with the person signing her paycheck. Chloe, upon seeing the exchange, gave Norman a confused and slightly disappointed glance. She'd been used to seeing her cousin give curt or sometimes even surly replies on occasion, and she knew full well how he felt about Trixie, Goodness knows Chloe didn't like her either. Still, she found herself Wondering What had firmly lodged itself between Normans buttcheeks to cause him to snap at her like that. Quietly, Chloe gave a walked over to her cousin, leaning over towards him to speak in relative privacy, with a hushed yet somewhat brisk tone she quickly began interrogating him. "Alright Norm, what's the deal? I mean I know for a fact Trixie can be kind of a pain, but did you really need to bite her head off like that, or Cherry's for that matter." Norman gave his cousin a light scoff, accompanied by a quick roll of his eyes, before giving his own, not-quite-as-hushed response. "Considering I'm running a soda shop and not a three ring circus I'd say I have plenty of reason to, I'm already doing Trixie a big enough favor by paying her, even with the budget being tight right now." "Tight?" "Yeah, apparently repairing a giant hole in the wall made by a rampaging lizard is expensive, who knew? Now I've gotta worry about the possibility of mounting repairs bills on top of our usual expenses and budgets. So forgive me if I'm not completely sympathetic to someone who wants to get payed a full wage for half an hour of work." Chloe looked slightly off-put by that statement, pausing for a brief moment with downcast eyes as she mulled over how to respond. "Y'know, Mom would probably be willing to loan you some money." To his credit, Norman did consider this option for a moment or two. Auntie Jubilee did have quite a bit of spare money, and she'd probably be more than willing to put some down to keep the place in decent shape. But it wasn't long before a familiar fear came creeping into the back of his mind. What would she think of you if she found out you couldn't handle this one little soda shop yourself? What would she do when she found out you couldn't keep her pride and joy from going under? How would she feel knowing you failed her? A loud "Ding!" broke Normans train of thought,Indicating the arrival of a customer into the shop, and rather unfortunately causing his headache to flare up again. Looking up at the direction of the irritating sound. The young manager was met with the sight of a lime green teenage girl, with dark green hair, whom he Identified as Sweet leaf, One of his fellow Canterlot High Students. Rubbing His temple in a feeble attempt to soothe his splitting head pain, Norman motioned for Chloe to move along and make room for people to walk up to the counter. "We'll talk about this later Chloe, I've got customers to serve and so do you." Chloe frowned lightly, clearly unsatisfied with the answer. Still, deciding not to press the issue further she walked off. As soon as she was out of sight, Norman gave a rough sigh and shook his head, before being interrupted by a light cough, which came from Sweet leaf, currently in front of the counter and looking expectantly at him. "Uh...hey dude, are you and your sister or whatever alright? do you like need a moment?" "What? No, I'm fine Sweets, what do you want?" A look of surprise flash across the young eco-teens face as Norman called her by name. "Wait? How do you know my name? you don't look familiar.." A Sigh escaped Norman's lips as he pinched the bridge of his nose in disappointment. True, he really didn't expect her to remember that they took history class together, or that he had let her eco-teen friends organize one of their fundraisers for underprivileged wolverines at his shop, but he at least expected her to remember that he ran the damn place considering she was a regular here. "Don't worry about it, just tell me what you want, please." "Uh....alright I guess, I'll have,an apricot smoothie with chakra boost please." "Coming right up!" Norman responded as he grabbed a cup and placed it underneath the large, churning smoothie machine. Once he was certain that the cup was mostly full, he handed handed it to Sweet Leaf, making sure not to mention that they didn't have chakra boosts for their smoothies or how he was pretty sure that wasn't actually a real thing. "And, there you are, One apricot smoothie with...uh...chakra boost, that'll be two fifteen" "Cool! Thanks dude." Sweet leaf replied appreciatively, quickly handing him a five dollar bill, before taking a sip from the completely chakra-less beverage. As Norman opened up the register to place the money in and retrieve the change she was owed, he noticed the young environmentalist staring at him with a look of concentration, as if trying to solve some complex riddle. "See, I'm pretty sure I've come here before, And I don't recognize you at all, are you new or something?" "No, It's usually me up here, all the time." He grumbled softly, gritting his teeth as he attempted to count the bills and dimes. "Weird, I wonder why I can't remember you then." Sweet Leaf question aloud, scratching her chin quizzically as she attempted to recall all the various people she'd come to know, from her friends in the environmentalist club, to the one cute guy she'd always hung out with in chess club, to that one man who was always pushing around a baby carriage full of overripe potatoes. "Maybe I'm not real" Norman replied sarcastically, with roll of his eyes that clearly indicated his had no interest in having this conversation again. However, Looking back up at Sweet Leaf, the young manager had slowly begun to realize this might have been a mistake. The young Canterlot High student began to sweat bullets as her eyes darted from Norman to the Customers and employees present in the room. "N-No....that can't, I mean you must be real....Unless..." "...Unless, what exactly Sweets?" Norman asked, no small measure of concern present in his voice as he wondered if the girl he was speaking to was high on something. "It must mean you're a hallucination!" "Excuse me?" "I told my doctor I couldn't take those messed up allergy pills he prescribed me!" Alright, nevermind, obviously she has no clue what "high" even is. Norman thought dryly, passively watching Sweet Leaf hyperventilating in sheer terror. "Oh god, I'm gonna turn into an addict, just like mom warned me! I'll have to sleep in a cardboard box and beg for cash just to get b-" "I was kidding." The young manager admitted calmly, earning a look of simultaneous shock and relief from his panicking customer. "What?" "I was just making a stupid joke." "R-really? so I'm not.." "I've had alot of people come through here high, a few of them were even hallucinating, you're neither...trust me." "But then why don't I remember you?" Normans expression Soured lightly before he finally decided to respond. "Nobody does usually." "Oh.....that sounds like it sucks." Sweet leaf replied sympathetically, her gaze cast downwards. "Kinda, Anyways here's your change.." Handing the bills and coins to his slightly shaken customer. After Pulling her wallet out of her pocket and hastily stuffing the money in the young CH student began striding away, Smoothie in hand, Giving The Manager an awkward wave and equally awkward farewell as she left. "Thanks dude. catch ya later then I guess" "Probably" Norman said passively,offering his own, lazy wave back to the girl as she left. Once she was out of sight, Norman deposited the money into the register and gave a light sigh. Two dollars down, couple hundred more to go. The rest of the evening progressed similarly, with customers making their way to the bar and making their orders, some less time, some took more, some sat at the bar with their drinks and food, and others left with them. Still, Whatever tiny measure of headway he made felt insubstantial, especially in the face of the general expenses simply running the shop accrued. As He attended to one of his many customers, a familiar voice broadcast through a microphone set itself upon Normans ears. "Come one, Come all, Come and be amazed at the mystic feats of the Great and Implacable Trixie!" The young bartender shook his head in a strange cross between disbelief and amusement a smirk present across his features as he watched Trixie currently using an abandoned table as a makeshift stage as she pontificated towards the audience. Well, at least she's having fun. "Indeed, though the fates conspired against Trixie, even sending a their mightiest creature in attempt to stall her show, Trixie stands here before you Triumphant!" As she spoke, Trixie tossed a handful of flash powder onto the ground, causing a plume of green smoke to rise up and form into an admittedly rather fearsome serpentine shape. "Normally the Great and Powerful Trixie would dispose of such an interloper, but lucky for him one of....lesser skill was there to deal with him." Norman's smirk immediatly shifted into a frown, completely unimpressed by Trixie's blatant thievery of credit. Astonishing, she somehow manages to be shameful and shameless all at the same time, THAT at the very least is an amazing feat for the great and powerful Trixie. Ignoring the rolled eyes and dubious expression she received from the crowd, Trixie continued. "Indeed any creature would do well not to invoke the mighty wrath of the great and powerful-" "Sunset!" Almost as soon as the name was spoken by one of the people in the crowd, Norman's eyes snapped toward the entrance. Sure enough, there stood Sunset smiling awkwardly, the expression on her face somewhere between Appreciation and Embarrassment. "Wooo! Nice job yesterday Shimmer!" "You really showed that Jurassic park reject!" "You're REALLY hot!" Sunsets expression immediately shifted from shy appreciation to a full faced blush as she received praise and attention from every corner of the shop. Dozens of people stopped their meals to clap, cheer, and even walk up and shake hands with the former unicorn. Norman chuckled lightly as the patrons gathered around her, showering the flame-haired girl with continual praise. Good for you Sunny, you of all people certainly deserve it. The young barman thought as he dried a crystal clear mug with a rag. Happy to see that Sunset was finally getting the recognition she deserved, even if it seemed to be a little overwhelming for her. Unfortunately Trixie seemed less happy with this turn of events. "Well well well, it seems as if Someone has let their recent victories go to their head. So tell me Sunset, Do you think the fact that you took down an over-sized gecko, means you have the talent to try and upstage Trixie, The Great and Powerful?" With a flourish of her hand Trixie gestured to the spot beside her on the stage. "Well then why not join me up here and show off all your so-called "magic" in a little contest? Whoever can provide the more dazzling show of talent wins!" Sunset gave Trixie a quizzical look, as if she'd just realized she was standing on stage, before shaking her head dourly at the magician. "I don't have time for this Trixie, i'm kind of here to see someone." The former unicorn said as she cast an attentive glance towards Norman, causing him to smile and wave almost reflexively. Trixie frowned at the ex-unicorns dismissive response, clearly upset that she couldn't goad her into a contest as easily as she had hoped. However, upon seeing Sunset give the shop owner her own friendly wave in response, a smug smirk crept upon her face. "Oh I suppose I understand, after all, it would be a shame if your little friend over there saw you crash and burn." Sunset affixed the performer with a searing glare, clearly Trixie had pushed the right button that time. "You can't let her get away with saying that!" Came a voice from the crowd, joined by a chorus of affirmative murmurs, and taking a quick look around, Sunset could tell that the gathered patrons were all waiting for her to accept the challenge. Seeing no other choice, Sunset let out a frustrated groan before climbing onstage to confront the magician. "Fine, if you have your heart set on losing I suppose I'll oblige." Sunset responded, a hint of her old fierceness present in her voice as she spoke, and for a minute, Norman felt a very familiar sense of dread crawl down the back of his spine. Alright, so she can bare her teeth when she needs to, good. I'd be kinda worried if she was all sweetness all the time. Norman thought, as he observed the Trixie tossing a solid white sphere at the ground that erupted into a shower of blue fireballs, bursting in the air and raining down delicate white rose pedals. The gathered crowd shouted their obligatory "oooh's" and "ahhh's" as they witness the pedals dancing and forming shapes. "Beat that! Shimmer!" Trixie said confidently as her pyrotechnic display fired off all around her. Sunset raised a an eyebrow at the display, her expression completely neutral and unimpressed. "All flash and no substance as usual Trix" She said dismissively as she waved away some of the leftover plant matter and smoke. "I guess its kind of pretty, if nothing else. Luckily I have something a bit more....tangible up my sleeves than tricks." From out of one of the pockets of her signature biker jacket, Sunset pulled out a silver chain necklace with a sword shaped charm and wrapped it around her hand. Suddenly her fist erupted into a Turquoise flame that slowly culminated into a near-solid rod of fire, before eventually shifting into a broadsword wrapped in that same luminescent flame. All the respective patrons gasped as weapon formed, fully enthralled in its silvery shine and bright flames. With a light "Fwoosh" Sunset gave the sword a few swings and twirls, the fiery blade forming bright rings as it cut through the air. Which made Norman worry slightly, both for his customers who, while a respectable distance from where she was swinging were still huddled around her, and for his shop, which had already suffered quite a bit of magic-induced damage. Luckily the performance proceeded and ended without incident, after which the former unicorn quickly shifted the blade back into a necklace, giving a quick flourish to end on. Norman was the first to applaud, giving a lazy clap to the quick performance. Earning a Blush from the equestrian and a harsh scowl from Trixie. Still the rest of the shop seemed to agree with Norman and one by one joined him in thunderous applause. Much to Sunset's modest appreciation and Trixie's dismay. "B-But she's just swinging a sword, any meathead can do that!" However, try as she might, the magicians protests were soon drowned out by the roar of the crowd as they gave the other girl their praise and adulation. With a indignant huff, the abandoned illusionist stomped off the stage, taking pause only to give Sunset a scornful glare even as she retreated offstage. Meanwhile, Sunset set back on her way to the front desk, an ever present grin plastered across her features that only grew with each compliment and cheer she received. "Well, seems like they enjoyed your performance, Maybe you should give them an encore....wouldn't hurt business." Norman commented dryly, a measured smile ever-present on his face. "Well, you'd certainly need to make it worth my while, handsome." Sunset replied, her confidence lapsing slightly at the end as she'd gotten a better look at his haggard and rough appearance. The young manager gave a look of disbelief through his bloodshot and bleary eyes, clearly not quite buying the former equestrians compliment. "You have a strange definition of handsome." He responded, earning a look of slight embarrassment from Sunset after calling out her slip up. However, as she turned her head bashfully he began to notice something underneath her jacket. "Are those bandages?" Norman inquired tentatively, concern evident in his voice as he pointed to the small patch of white gauze over Sunset's shoulder. "Yeah, took a few hits when I was fighting the jabberwocky." Sunset explained as she attempted to pull her signature biker jacket tighter to hide the bandage in question. A fresh wave of guilt washed over him as he thought about the injuries one must sustain fighting unknowable creatures from beyond this universe.Suddenly his head and back aching didn't seem like that big of a problem anymore. "Sounds rough, sorry to hear that Sunshine." "It's alright, Someone had to step in, might as well have been me." "I guess" Norman murmured casually, a little off-put by the idea that these were the kind of scars she brought home every day. "It's strange though, all those times you clashed with magic and stuff I never really considered the physical danger of it, I mean besides all the magical cancer you guys probably contracted." At that Sunset gave the young man a look of utter confusion. "Norman, magic doesn't cause cancer." The manager gave an amused snort. "Sunset, everything gives you cancer" "The sun, cancer." He said, pointing out a window,through which, bright sunlight was pouring in. "These florescent lights, cancer." Again he pointed up at the lighting set above the counter, prompting Sunset to try and move out from under them. "And this Soda." He added as he pulled a can of Colta-Cola out from a nearby icebox and took a sip. "Liquid Cancer, you couldn't possibly tell me that Volatile blasts of rainbow energy and wild mutation AREN'T going to do something nasty to your cells." Sunset rolled her eyes dismissively as she watch him gulp down most of the can in a near instant. Letting a smile tease itself across her features. "Soo, you think maybe you might have some free time to go hang out today?" A sharp, sputtering cough escaped Normans throat in mid-sip of his soda. Sunset moved to aid him, but Norman raised up a hand, indicating he was fine. After a few quick coughs and jabs at his chest he managed to clear his windpipe. "Dunno about that today Sunshine." Norman said nervously, only just now remembering how he'd agreed to hang out with her, and unfortunately realizing that in his current financial straits he'd have to cancel on that in favor of trying to dig himself out of debt. Sunset frowned slightly at his response, but managed to brighten up quickly enough. "Well that's fine, what time works for you then?" He turned his gaze aside. "I Don't know, I'm gonna be busy for quite some time." Admitted the young manager regretfully, trying to make it clear he wasn't happy to admit this. Sunset seemed to pick up on this, but she looked unhappy nonetheless. "Oh, I guess that's...." She paused to give a long sigh. "....Are you sure you can't, I don't know, move something around?" "It's not like I have a bushiness lunch to go to, I just need to put in more hours is all." "Why's that?" In response, Norman gestured to the newly refurbished wall. "Had to get the wall repaired after notzilla wrecked through it." "Oh, well maybe I can help then." Sunset said hopefully. Norman shook his head passively in response. "I can't pay you,the only reason I'm paying Trixie is because I still owe her from yesterday." "I don't need money Norman, I just wanna help." "I wouldn't wanna drag you into my problems Sunshine, I can handle this myself." She gave an angry frown, clearly starting to get more than a little annoyed at Normans stubbornness. "You're not dragging me into your problems Norman, we're supposed to be friends. Friends help each other out, or defeat monsters together, either of those really." "You've only been my "friend" for about two days, Shimmer. That doesn't give you the right to butt into my business whenever you feel like it." Norman replied testily, his simmering frustration clear in his bloodshot eyes, wondering why she was so insistent on this point when he was being quite clear that he didn't want help. "You don't have to be an asshole about it." Sunset grumbled back, arms folded and head turned away in reaction to Normans briskness. A scoff came from the other side of the counter as the manager regarded her bluntly. "Yeah, you would know all about that wouldn't you-" His catty comment was interrupted near instantly by a pair of yellow hands gripping his collar and pulling him forward. "What!?" Shouted the former unicorn, as she yanked him forward to meet her bleary gaze. A fresh wave of panic crashed over Norman, as old memories of his old encounters with Sunset flooded through his mind, temporarily overriding his rational thought and replacing it with instinctual terror. It only lasted a second however, as near instantly Sunset seemed to pick up on his panic and quickly let go of the boys collar and cast an apologetic look downward. "Sorry.." "Yeah, me too.." A quick look at Sunset showed pretty clearly that she was no better off than he was, she seemed tired, probably a little woozy from the cuts and bruises she'd be healing from, Norman mentally kicked himself for not being more perceptive and trying harder to hold his tongue. Neither of them had been in a proper state of mind when they'd started this conversation, but similarly neither of them were in a hurry to continue for fear of saying something else to offend each other. After some time, Sunset ventured a small, offhand comment towards the young manager. "Your jacket is really soft, one of Rarity's designs I presume?" Norman gave a quick smile, relieved that he wasn't the one who had to initiate conversation, before slowly shaking his head. "Naw, Suri Polomare, mmmkay" he said confidently, adding his ham-fisted impression of Suri's distinctive accent at the end. Which drew a petite smile and giggle from the former equestrian. Something about her laugh made his own smile grow wider, and for a moment a memory of his earlier dream shifted into his mind, drawing the parallels of fear and adoration he felt there. Before he could think further on this however, he was interrupted by the feeling of a hand upon his own. Ignoring his first instinct to jerk his hand away from whoever was touching it, he looked up curiously at the girl in front of him. "Norman, please, let me help you. I can tell it's really frustrating you and the fact that your not letting me help you is frustrating me." Norman considered the offer. He really wasn't helping anyone by refusing, Sunset obviously wasn't going to take no for an answer, and truth be told he wasn't sure why he felt the need to do this himself. But soon enough, a familiar feeling churned in the pit of his stomach. The same feeling of shame, self doubt and the odd tingle of loneliness he felt when Chloe had suggested he ask his Aunt for her help. However, a quick glance into Sunset's deeply sympathetic gaze, reminded him that like it or not, he wasn't alone in this. "Alright, Alright, you win Sunshine, maybe I am being a bit of an asshole.." "Yup" Sunset agreed quickly. "...and maybe I do need help." The former unicorn grinned widely in response, happy that her friend had finally decided to take her advice and accept her aid. "Great , come with me, I think I have something that might help at home." Without waiting for his answer, Sunset quickly grabbed Norman by the wrist and pulled him along, dragging him from his counter and out through the door. "Uhhh, Sunset?" Norman questioned as he was dragged outside by the eager unicorn. His feet barely able to keep up with their movement as she quickly lead him over to a very well maintained Harley Stallionson motorcycle. "Hey, where do you think you're taking my cousin?" "Norman, are you seriously blowing us off to go slink off with some harlot? I thought you said you were done with that kinda stuff!" Out of the corner of his eye, Norman saw his two adoptive family members, Chloe and Cherry making their way out of the shop in pursuit, both of them harboring upset looks, though Chloe's was aimed at Sunset while Cherry's was aimed directly at him. "Well, y'see I..." "He was just about to join me, to discuss finances. I don't want to give away too much, but I think you'll be happy to know Norman has convinced me to help you all out with the budget." Sunset responded happily, causing Norman to affix her with a confused stare as he tried to imagine what kind of financial help one barely grown woman could provide. Still, He HAD agreed to let her help, and if nothing else he'd always prided himself on keeping his agreements. "It's alright guys, Sunset said she wants to help, so I'm letting her." The two looked unconvinced, but decided not to press the issue thankfully, and after asking Cherry to run the counter since Bakin Bitz had arrived earlier to relieve him of kitchen duty (a task he was glad to preform Norman was sure.) He was left free to join Sunset atop the motorcycle. To his surprise, the leather seating was comfortable, though it left precious little room between himself and the former unicorn, which was...worrisome for the young manager. "You might wanna hold on to something back there." Sunset said, as she began adjusting her light purple motorcycle helmet. Unfortunately, Norman saw precious little to hold onto aside from Sunset herself, and as such opted to leave his hands where they were. Suddenly, the engine roared to life and gave a thunderous rumble, and with a slightly shrill yelp and a jump, Norman quickly grabbed onto the former unicorns waist. The young bartender blushed deeply at the touch, but was still far too terrified of the roaring machine to let go. Which, truth be told, suited the former equestrian just fine as she sped off towards her home, the sweetest of smiles forming beneath her helmet. Author's Note This chapter, HOLY CRUD this chapter!! This was a long chapter that STILL really shouldn't have taken this long, It's a shame to admit but I think too many "I can work on it tomarrow's" really kept this thing in limbo for a long, long time. Anyways, talking about the actual chapter there is a lot I want to say. It was fun to get away from Sunset's "rose tinted glasses" perspective on this and get a look at her crush in his weakest point. Though it unfortunately starts with another dream sequence, hopefully I'll steer away from those for a while. Also apologies to all Trixie fans, I realize she can be an awesome character if used correctly, But I'm going to concede I might not be using her correctly, sorry! P.S: So honest opinions from all of you reading this fic, Do you think I've been making sunset too snippy? I've tried to present both her and Norman as "worn down" in this case, but since this is the second (or third time if you count her minor lashing out at the slumber party) I've had her give an extreme reaction to something. Netflix and thrillsThe ride had been mostly quiet, Between Norman's Silent discomfort and Sunsets restrained glee the two had been able to keep themselves occupied for most of the trip. A few times Norman considered asking Sunset to slow down, but thought better of it, she probably wouldn't have heard him over the roar of the engine and honestly he wasn't quite sure slowing down would make the ride any less terrifying. He hoped he wouldn't have to drive back here himself again, aside from a few brief glimpses of some smaller landmarks, including a sign that indicated they had entered into a gated community, Norman had little baring on where he currently was. Most likely that was because he had taken to burying his face in the back of Sunset's jacket in a desperate attempt to look away from the rapidly moving scenery and pretend he was anywhere else, desperately trying not to retch at the smell of leather mixed with Sunset's overwhelming perfume. Still, eventually the vehicle slowed as they pulled up in front of a rather impressive house. Not quite a mansion per say, but certainly a rather lovely two story building, complete with a stone pathway leading up to it and a quaint little patio overlooking the lawn. The windows were each draped in expensive looking purple curtains that Norman could see even from outside the house. Norman gawked at the not-so-humble abode, completely caught off guard by it's stature. "What's the matter Norman?" Sunset asked tentatively, bringing his attention back to reality, and the fact that he currently had his arms wrapped around her. Quickly he removed his hands from her waist, not wanting to further compound his already confusing and guilty feelings by keeping his hands on her. "Well, I guess I didn't expect your house to be quite, like this." "What did you expect?" Norman paused a moment to consider the question. To be fairly honest he wasn't sure what he expected, whenever he'd stopped to think about how Sunset might live he usually assumed she lived in fairly humble means, considering she was essentially an orphan in this world. "Well, nobody's ever talked about visiting your home, I guess I assumed you didn't have one." "Yeah well, you know what they say about assumptions and what they make out of people." Sunset said, setting down the bikes kickstand and dismounting the vehicle, After which she walked down the path towards the House, followed closely by Norman. Upon entering, The first thing that stood out to Norman was the expansiveness of the entryway, how vast and almost intimidating it seemed, even after seeing it from the outside. Briefly Norman wondered if she had used some kind of spell to manipulate the law of conservation of mass and create a house that was larger inside than it was outside, but it quickly dawned on him that it more likely it just made good use of vertical space. Aside from being spacious and well built, Sunset's house seemed to be beautifully decorated with eclectic bits and bobbles she had collected, most prominent of which was a small brass sculpture hung on the wall in the shape of a blazing sun. All in All, Norman was pretty sure the house and all its contents were worth far more than he would ever see in his lifetime. Meanwhile it was clear from her smug expression that Sunset was enjoying his awestruck expression as he gawked at her home. "I take it you're impressed?" "You're never getting another free sandwich out of me ever again." Norman replied curtly, Trying his damnedest not to sound TOO impressed. "We'll see" Sunset said in a Singsong voice. "So, if I asked how you could afford all this stuff would the answer mentally scar me for life?" In response to his question, Norman received a disapproving pout from the former unicorn, as well as sharp slap across the head which nearly swept off his hat. "If you really want to know, I took a big stash of valuables with me when I left Equestria." "What, did you rob a queen or something?" "Might as well have." Sunset mumbled sadly. Norman looked up from a small statue of a horse he was examining and gave sunset a concerned glance. "Most of the stuff I got were gifts from my mentor, Princess Celestia, stipends, presents, all things she gave me out of the kindness of her heart when I had been her student." "And that got you all this?" "Well, precious minerals are apparently a lot more rare and a LOT more valuable here. I mean, our main form of currency is solid gold, and gems are common enough to be made into dresses and baked goods." "Baked goods?" Norman repeated, dumbfounded. "Wouldn't it be more honest to just round up all the poor people in your world and start burning money in front of their faces?" "Considering the giant middle fingers to the heavens you humans build and conduct business in I don't think you have any right to judge." Sunset responded, smirking with amusement. "Point taken." Norman conceded as he cast his eyes away in slight embarrassment. Unfortunately before he could continue, he was interrupted by a massive, earth-shattering bark. Quickly his eyes began to dart around, searching for whatever dire creature emitted such a sound. "Garble!" Sunset Squeeled Happily from the foot of the stairway, running to embrace some red and yellow blob that was descending the staircase. Upon closer inspection it appeared to be a dog, or at least some mangy, red and yellow eldritch horror that closely resembled one. "How are you doing today Handsome?" She cooed softly as she knelt down and scratched the dog-monster just underneath its chin. The beast gave what could only be described as an appreciative gargle, bearing its jagged and razor-sharp teeth into a rough approximation of a smile before licking Sunset's hand. Giggling at the sloppy show of affection, She turned towards Norman, causing the massive creature to do the same. "I'd like you to meet my dog, Garble. Say hi Garble!" Without missing a beat "Garble" leveled a festering glare at Norman, growling fiercely as it sized him up. "He's....cute" Norman said insincerely as he put on a forced smile. Garble snarled viciously at him, apparently able to smell his blatant bullshit as clearly as the vibrant cologne that soaked his shirt. Upon seeing the exchange, Sunset moved between the two. Hastily attempting to assuage Norman's growing concern. "Oh, don't mind him, he's just a little grumpy after I was gone for so long. Luckily Miss Tenderheart was willing to watch him for me while I was away ." In response Garble burped up a small patch of floral print cloth. Sunset's eyes widened as she recognized the patterns and slowly she began walking towards the front door. "Uhhh, I gotta go check something, hold tight here OK Norman?" Cautiously, Norman cast a glance over to Sunset's dog, which was now slowly stalking towards him with a murderous gleam in its eyes. "Well actually.." "Awesome, I'll be right back." Sunset said happily as she hurried out the door. Leaving him with the beast, it's hulking frame slowly creeping towards him. "Steady....uh....Garble" Norman said nervously, slowly backing away from the massive creature as it stalked towards him,it's jagged teeth dripping with drool. The beast woofed loudly, clearly not placated in the slightest and now looking to the frightened teen as if he were a particularly cowardly bag of kibble. After it became clear that no obvious escape route's were in sight, or at least none that he felt assured wouldn't simply give the creature a free bite at him, Norman cast his gaze skyward, deciding that in this instance, perhaps an appeal was in order. "Please lord, if you get me out of this I promise never to spit in another snobby customers drink ever again." Garble simply stepped forward and growled in response. Causing him to panic further, desperately reaching for some other bargaining token. "Or loosen the lid on their coffee cups so they spill hot coffee on themselves." He added hastily. Sunset groaned miserably as she set on the path back home from her neighbors house. Wondering all the way back how such an tiny old lady could yell so loud. Sunset made a mental note to never piss off Miss Tenderheart again. Not that she would likely be talking to her again for a while. The nerve she had, calling her dog an "Unholy abomination against god and man" Sure, Garble was a little rough around the edges, and sure he might have tried to eat Miss Tenderhearts leg, but that was just him....adjusting. That being said, she made it a point to not waste any time getting home, Suddenly far less confident in the decision to leave Norman with her dog. It'll be fine, I'm sure Norman is perfectly safe, it's not like I've been gone that long. Slowly, as if fearing what she might see behind it, she pushed opened the front door. "Norman? Garble? you there? and uneaten?" She didn't really know what she expected as far as a reply, but she had hoped to get at least some confirmation against the worst. However, as she entered the living room the first thing that met her ears, was not a the bark of a dog, or cries for help from her guest, but rather, what sounded like a list of apologies "..And I'll never take a dead rat from out back and sneak it into the meal of someone I don't like, Or cut costs by serving expired....oh, hey Sunny." Sure enough, there stood Norman, perfectly safe and casually leaned against a wall, greeting Sunset cheerfully, as if some great burden had just recently been lifted from his shoulders. "Uh, hey Norman, you OK? Garble wasn't any trouble was he?" The young manager blinked a few times, having just remembered the massive dog that had been threatening him. "What? Oh, no not really, in fact he's been pretty quiet" Out of the corner of her eye, the former unicorn spotted her dog who sported a thousand yard stare after having been privy to the depths a human being could sink after three or four odd years in the fast food industry. "Uhhh....good to hear." Sunset said cautiously as she called garble to heel and took a seat on a nearby couch, treating him to a light scratch behind the ear to relax him. "Mind If I take a seat?" Norman asked, pointing to the empty spot next to her. She nodded and let him take his seat, doing her best to hide the tiny smile she couldn't help but pull. "So How did it go with that thing you needed to attend to?" He continued taking seat next to her on the couch. Sunset sighed audibly, the disappointment and rejection still fresh in her mind. "It was exhausting. To think Mrs. Tenderheart would have the nerve to call poor Garble an abomination" Norman raised an eyebrow at her response. "Why exactly did she call him that?" "Well, he did try to chew up her leg a little." "How do you chew up someones leg "a little?" She looked down at her dog, her resolve slowly dying down as she saw him continuing to chew on the floral print fabric. "It's all my fault." She said guiltily, as she reached down and scratched her canine companion behind the ears. " I should have known better than to leave him with her, or with you, he's obviously not ready to be around other people." "Maybe, but y'know the only way to really be ready is experience." Norman Suggested with a shrug, Sunset merely continued looking downcast at her dog. "I'll tell you what, Why don't you Have me watch Garble next time? if today is any indication I'd say I'm pretty good with him already." She lifted up gaze to look at Norman for a moment, there was trepidation in his face as he offered, but he looked like he was at least relatively confident in his offer. And she really did need someone to watch garble for her while she was fighting abominations. "Well, that'd certainly help if you think you can manage it." "If I couldn't "Manage" I'd be in the wrong profession, wouldn't I Sunshine?" He replied happily, his signature "Almost smile" present on his lips. Sunset felt her eyes roll almost of their own volition at Normans typically cheesy line, though she did return his half-smile at least. Quickly she grabbed the remote off a nearby coffee table and clicked on the TV, happy to settle in and relax after a long day. "Well, you are coming to me for financial help aren't you." She answer back with faintest hint of smugness. That struck him silent, prompting Sunset to look away from the fantasy/sci fi b-movie she'd put on to glance at him. He looked away, not quite in shame or depression, but with a degree of hard contemplation present in his expression, perhaps rethinking his decision. The trepidation he seemed to feel at the shop in accepting her help hadn't completely gone away it looked like. Whatever Smugness Sunset had felt faded as she attempted to rectify the situation. "Hey it's fine, lucky for you I have a soft spot for roguishly handsome bartenders." She said in her best attempt at a "sultry" voice. "Roguishly handsome?" Norman replied with amusement, his gaze lifted slightly from the floor by the compliment. "That's certainly a new one." That sentence piqued Sunset interest Immediately, Suddenly her movie seemed far less interesting now in comparison to whatever juicy secrets she could glean about her crush. "What are some of the old ones?" She asked as she scooted closer to Norman taking the opportunity to get a discreet whiff of his cologne, a musky, rich and somewhat oaky mixture that blended rather well with his own natural scent in her opinion. Silently she wondered if she could get away with stealing his hat again. She was quickly snapped out of her thoughts when Norman spoke up. "Well Normy for one, Pretty boy was another, but most boys in Canterlot high get that one, there was that one older woman who insisted on calling me slugger, it was really awkward." Sunset raised an eyebrow, she'd always thought of Norman as attractive, but she always felt her particular interest in him was just her preference. At the very least whenever the subject of "boys" came up in conversation among her friends his name never seemed to appear. She continued to scoot closer to him, a slightly possessive mood overtaking her as she responded. "Sounds like you're popular." A dry Chuckle from the boy next to her indicated her initial disbelief wasn't unfounded. "Hardly, persistent more like, been trying to find that special someone ever since Blue and I parted ways." That answer was far more likely and appealing to Sunset, if Norman was already on looking for love then it likely wouldn't be too hard for her to ask him out. "So, how's that been going so far?" "So far, I've decided to step out of the dating game." A look somewhere between shock and disappointment graced the former unicorns features as she heard his answer. "What? really?" Norman nodded, wistfulness clear in his expression and voice as he continued. "I'm tired of being a one night stand Sunshine, I've been around the block looking for love and I've got no interest in going around again." Sunset's disappointment quickly soured into full-on bitterness at that news, she knew it'd be far harder to get him to return her feelings now, at the very least she wouldn't be able to directly ask him out now. And worst of all, every other girl in Canterlot and their mother apparently got a shot with him beforehand. This isn't fair, I saw him first, I should have gotten to him sooner. "Well I know a few women that are gonna be dissapointed to hear that." "They'll forget about it eventually....they always forget." Bitterness and self doubt were clear in Normans voice as he spoke, which Sunset recognized immediately, After seeing it in his exchange with Barry Punch at his soda shop. It occurred to Sunset that most of his break-ups probably weren't voluntary, after all, it was pretty easy to be heartbroken when you seem impossible to notice. But then something else occurred to her, a tiny and admittedly amusing fact. Slowly she placed a supportive hand on Norman's hunched shoulder. "I never did." She said fondly. Norman stared at her for a few seconds, the wheels in his head slowly turning, for a minute she worried if she'd made a mistake and he might be angry about her bringing up her time bullying him so lightly. But thankfully he seemed to appreciate the humor of the situation and gave a small chuckle in response. "I suppose not. Whatever else you did you didn't forget. Even when I kinda wished you did." "If it makes you feel any better you were always my favorite." She added playfully. "It doesn't but thanks anyways." Sunset let out a light giggle at his dry response before turning back to the movie. Apparently the President's son, who was a soldier in the a-mare-ican military had fallen in love with an alien of some kind, at least she thought it was, to her it just looked like an actress in blue body-paint. However before she could think about the idiotic implications of a race of aliens defined by color in a world where everyone was multicolored, Norman spoke up again. "So, Sunshine..." "Yeah" Norman paused for a minute and bit his lower lip, likely indicating he was debating wether or not to ask something. "How are things on your end as far as dating goes? I haven't really seen you with anyone besides Flash "did I mention I have a band" Sentry." Norman questioned, adding small air quotations on towards the end. The comment took Sunset slightly off guard, she wasn't exactly expecting this question. Truth be told she had fooled around a little before flash, looking for a guy to latch onto to boost her standing mostly. But unfortunately Afterwords it became pretty clear to everyone who she was, and even after the fall formal and the battle of the bands most guys still tended to keep a "look but don't touch" policy with her. Before she could respond Norman shook his head and cursed under his breath. "Sorry Sunshine, I don't know what I was thinking, asking something personal like that.....just forget it." "N-no, it's alright, it's just my love life has been kinda boring so far. I mean even when I was with flash we never even really made out or anything." That wasn't entirely true of course, She had on occasion enjoyed some brief lip-locks with her ex-boyfriend, sometimes it was as extra incentive to make sure he'd do something for her, other times it was for her own enjoyment. Regardless, a little white lie did nothing to hurt him, and if she was lucky he might be more inclined to be with her if he thought he was her first. She turned softly, bringing out her best Innocent-doe-eyed expression. "Truth be told, I've never even kissed a boy." "Oh believe me Sunshine, it's not all it's cracked up to be." Sunset blinked at the younger man's casual response, spending a few moments trying to mull over the implications of that sentence. "H-how would you know that." "I ran into a guy who told me had a crush on me, I figured I shouldn't turn him down if I didn't know for sure, so I gave it a shot." Sunset knew for a fact her face was as red as a fresh sweet-apple-achers apple, even without the burning sensation flaring up in her face. Luckily it was far less obvious to Norman, who casually continued his story, much to Sunset dismay and excitement. "I gotta tell you, I gave it my all and sure there was a little bit of a naughty thrill to it but at the end of the da-" The words slowly stopped registering properly in Sunsets mind, Instead giving way to vivid daydreams of her crush engaging in all manner of make-out sessions with some equally attractive mystery man. Unfortunately her fantasies were rather rudely interrupted by the genuine article. "Anyways the point is you're not missing much Sunshine. Trust me we're both better off single." "Y-Yeah, here's to the singles life" This is so unfair. She thought ruefully, now regretting her lack of haste in approaching him earlier even more. Garble, who had been sat next to the coach, once again adopted the horrified thousand yard stare. Completely oblivious to these thoughts, Norman simply glanced towards the TV, clearly struggling to make out what was going on on-screen. "Sooo....you have any idea what's happening here? cause I'm lost." "Ugh...no clue, they're trying to figure out how to stop the alien menace...or get to second base with them? I don't know I wasn't paying attention." She answered back, waving the question off in disinterest. "So, why'd you put it on then?" Sunset shrugged, the honest answer was she had wanted something on in the background to glance at while she relaxed and enjoyed his company. But she didn't really feel like explaining all that to Norman. "I've heard good things about it?" The dubious expression he fixed upon her indicated he didn't quite believe her. "Hush you." She said in mock indignation, jabbing him lightly in the arm, and causing him to smirk slightly at her overplayed reaction. "I didn't major in conjuration at Celestia's school for gifted unicorns, to be talked to like this, Mister." "A major in conjuration? Impressive......I think." Sunset huffed lightly in response, her anger shifting from playful to genuine soon after thinking about her time at celestia's school for gifted unicorns. "It damn well better be, It was probably one of the worst experiences of my life." She said bitterly, recalling a particularly harrowing experience where some particularly nasty teachers threatened to send rule-breakers to detention in tartarus. "You wanna, y'know, talk about it?" He asked casually, in that same detached and yet somewhat empathetic voice he'd usually address his customers with. She cast a sideways glance at him, she'd never really talked about her time as a student at Celestia's school for gifted unicorns with anyone, between her friends who wouldn't likely understand, and twilight who would probably rather gush about everything she learned there, she didn't really have anyone to really rant to on the subject. But half of Normans job was listening to people rant about their problems, no matter how little sense they made. "Alright, just hang on a minute, let me go grab a drink." "Not to worry Sunshine, I gotcha covered" He replied confidently, as he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small flask. She eyed the object warily, being perfectly within the legal drinking age Sunset was able to have alcohol in her possession, Norman however, was only nineteen and the fact that he had a flask of booze on him at all times was....worrying. The old her would have used it as blackmail, maybe as a way to wrap him around her finger. The new her however, simply had to settle for not liking it. Still, finding no real reason to turn down free booze, she took a swig from the flask, letting the bitter taste and light burn of the beverage run its course before beginning her rant. "So first of all Conjuration is kind of an offshoot of teleportation, more or less involving porting items from different planes of existence. Now this could mean anything, object, resources, energy, and of course living beings." Norman nodded at her explanation, though she wondered if that was because he really understood it, or was simply humoring her, regardless she continued, more for the sake of getting it off her chest than for anyone to hear it. "So you've gotta make sure your coordinates are right and since you can't just eyeball it you're pretty much forced to minor in divination, and that's a whole different can of worms." Countless hours spent at a crystal ball, searching for a specific plane, for specific coordinates, for a specific plant that grew in a specific grove, only for her to fail the assignment for drawing in "Unnecessary matter" through the spell in the form of a few blades of grass . When executing her Original plan of mutating the Canterlot high students into bloodthirsty monsters and invading Equestria, the first target on her very long shit-list would have been the asshat divination professor who gave her that hateful assignment. "And there were no other Students or teachers that were worth sitting through it to see?" Norman asked tentatively, he didn't seem to confident in his question, most likely he was simply teasing out the answer he already suspected. "Nope, Funny thing about studying an arcane science associated with summoning demons and monsters, Anyone who majors in it is gonna be either a bitch or a megabitch." "So, if you hated it so much, why'd you put yourself through it?" Sunset sighed sadly, recalling two of the many people she was glad to leave behind in Equestria. "Because my parents made it pretty clear that's what I would be studying. If nothing else, tapping into other planes of existence is an easy way to show you have power." "And lemme guess, showing off is exactly what mommy and daddy dearest wanted out of her award winning daughter?" Norman said knowingly, Prompting her to look up at him in surprise, before nodding in agreement and looking away. "Yup, Prettymuch. About the only time they ever wanted anything to do with me was when they were parading me around in front of her socialite friends." With a light sigh she opened up the flask and took another swig from it, silently wishing she had something a little stronger. A moment after, Normans open palm made its way into the corner of her vision, prompting her to glance over and see him with a pleasant, but still somewhat "expectant" look aimed towards her. Immediately she realized he wanted a drink, again, despite being under the legal drinking age. She cast her gaze from him to the flask at her hand before downing it all in one single gulp and handing it back to him. "Oops, Sorry." She gave a sweet, slightly inebriated smile at him before handing it back. "Classy.." He replied with a slight grimace as he took the now empty flask. She stuck her tongue out at him playfully. True he might be mad now, but she'd rather him be a little cross with her than have to watch him intoxicate himself in front of her. After trying in vain to tease out a single drop from the empty container he sighed and shook his head in defeat. "Just as well I suppose, Auntie Jubilee would want me back in time for dinner soon and I'd rather not have to explain to her why I'm out late with booze on my breath." "Just tell her you were out with a woman who rides motorcycles and wears leather." Sunset teased, quickly throwing on her black leather jacket, and turning off the nonsensical alien movie. "Anyways, It is getting kinda late, how about I drive you home." "How about you stay here and don't get arrested for D.W.I." Norman said, waving the empty flask towards her. She winced slightly and nodded. "It'll be fine, I can take a cab from here...." "Fair enough I suppose, Maybe we could get together again like this another time?" Sunset asked hopefully, trying her best not to sound desperate. "Sure thing, Sunny. Just… try and keep the pony magic to a minimum when I’m around, could you? That rainbow shit can’t possibly be good for my health." She scoffed and cuffed him lightly on the shoulder. "I'll keep that in mind the next time you need a rescue from some slavering monster, smart guy." He simply gave her his usual half-smile before walking towards the door. "See you soon Sunshine." "Yeah....you too." Sighing Dreamily, she leaned onto a nearby wall, already she'd managed to get her crush back to her house. That was more than most people got out of their first date, that's for certain. And to think, all this started out so terribl- Suddenly realization struck Sunset, quickly she ran over to the doorway after Norman. "WAAAIT!" She shouted through the doorway. Immediately Norman froze on the spot, cautiously turning on his heel to look back at her. Nodding to him, she rushed back inside and ran through the beautifully furnished living room, eventually making her way to a beautifully crafted jewelry box, sitting atop a table. Hastily she flipped it open and rummaged through it, occasionally pulling out amethyst's, sapphires, and rubies of various sizes, before eventually settling on a bright blue topaz. Alright, this should about cover it She thought to herself as she hurried back to the door, covertly placing the gem in her pocket. Norman Still stood just outside the door, though considerably less stiffly than she after she'd yelled for him. "So....I just remembered, I didn't give you the help you came here for." She admitted bashfully. He looked as if he was about to respond, before a look of realization overtook him. "Oh yeah, I guess I forgot." "Having too much fun?" She asked, a noticeable cat-like smirk appearing on her face. "Maybe." He admitted coyly, apparently not quite willing to admit to it fully. "Well either way, I have a feeling this might help out." She said confidently as she pulled the bright, shining, blue topaz from her coat pocket. Turning it over subtly in her hand to show off the fine cut and caret of it. "All the way from Equestria. And if my guess is correct its going price should be just enough to cover your repair bill." As she spoke, she looked over at Norman expectantly surprised he hadn't responded. To her surprise however, rather than a smart remark or a cool and collected smirk, all she received from him was a rather dumbfounded stare. Eventually he stuttered out a rather worried response. "I-I....Sunset, you can't be serious! I can't take this." She frowned, slightly frustrated at his stubbornness after she insisted on letting her help him. "Well too bad cause I'm giving it to you." She said insistently, grabbing his hand and forcing the gem into his palm. Normally she would respect someones desire to refuse her help, but this time it felt, important to her. She wanted him to accept it, She NEEDED him to accept it. Unfortunatly Norman seemed, unsure about her offering, almost frightened by it. "I-I won't be able to pay you back for this Sunset, It wouldn't feel right." He sputtered nervously, desperately trying to palm the gem back to her. Gently, she grabbed his open palm, and closed it back up. "You don't have to pay me back Norman, it's a gift." Finally relenting, Norman pulled his hand back, opening his palm to once again look at the large, bright blue gemstone in all it's glory. He seemed enraptured by it, It occurred to Sunset that he might never have seen this much money in his entire life, she wondered briefly if she should tell him how these gems grew all over equestria and how often they were used as simple gifts and rewards between friends. Before she could decide however, he spoke up again. "Why are you really giving this to me?" He asked in a sober tone, all traces of his smarmy sarcastic tone seemed to have dissolved away as he presented the question in his most straightforward voice. "Excuse me?" "I don't mean to look a gift horse in the mouth, but this really doesn't seem like the kinda thing you give to someone who you've only been friends with for a couple days, Why would you give this to me?" She could have just admitted to it right then and there, come out and told him how she felt, especially now after giving him such an apparently appreciated gift, She get her perfect high school fairy-tail ending, all she had to do was just reach out and grab it. But what if he refused? What if even after her gift he still wasn't able to return her feelings? or worse if he turned down the gem entirely. After so many times hearing it from both the other students during the battle of the bands as well as her own friends during the windigo incident , she didn't think she could take that kind of rejection again, not from him. "I...think you're a good guy." "T-That's it?" He asked incredulously, almost disappointed. Nodding her head, she began to give a more in depth explanation. Some kind of middle-ground between admitting her feelings and keeping them guarded. "I gave it to you because, I think despite all your fooling around, your bad habits, your snarky attitude and the fact that you mentally scarred my dog....twice." She pointed to Garble who stood at the foot of the coach, whimpering slightly. "...Despite doing everything in your power to try and deny it, I think you're sweet. And you have people that depend on you...people I know you don't wanna let down." A smile graced Norman's features as he heard her explanation, not a half-smile or amused smirk, but a real, genuine expression of happiness overtook him, a small tear forming in the corner of one of his vibrant, amber colored eyes. "You're sweet too Sunny, you know that right?" She nodded happily in agreement, Before being surprised as he latched on to her in a sudden hug. Which she happily returned, thankful he couldn't see her quickly reddening face. After a good minute or two, Norman, much to Sunset's dismay, broke the embrace and headed out the door. "So I guess this is goodbye, for real this time." "Sadly it looks that way." Sunset watched contently as Norman walk out the door, happy to know she helped him, and maybe got a few brownie points with him for it. However, he stopped just shy of exiting, taking a moment to turn around and speak to her before walking out. "I'll....find some way to pay you back for this Sunny, I promise." And with that, he was off. Pay me back huh? She thought as she wandered lazily back to the couch to lay down. content with the progress she'd made in her new prospective relationship. I could certainly think of something. She thought happily, as a few "less than pure" thoughts popped into mind. Author's Note Yay! another chapter done. Quick shout out to derpibooru commenter "Background Human" who's comments I used in dialogue in a couple of places."
A regular magical unicorn crushOf course he wouldn't just be out in the front of the school, that'd be too bucking convenient wouldn't it. Sunset shimmer grumbled as she paced nervously down the halls of Canterlot high, each click and clack of her large black boots grating more and more on her already frazzled nerves as she continued to search for the object of both her affection, and frustration, silently reassuring herself as she pressed on. Alright Sunset, you can do this, all you have to do is find him and ask him out. Sure, you've bullied him for as long as you've been attending this school, turned into a rampaging she demon, tried to enslave him, and magically mutate him to send him out on a path of destruction against an innocent race; but he's not gonna dwell on that, right? After numerous instances of looking through classrooms and lockers, and finding naught but the occasional drunk teacher and instances of student and staff engaging in some "after school extra credit"(She subsequently made a mental note never to touch the ruler in Miss. Harshwhinny's class, ever) Sunset eventually found who she was looking for. He was young, though only slightly younger that she was. With light peach skin, chocolate brown hair, and a figure that could be generously described as "lanky" and more likely would be described as "stick figure". His wardrobe was somewhere between a very well off hobo and a very poor swinger, featuring a prominent green beanie cap sat atop his head, and garishly bright, orange jacket, draped over his slender frame. Currently he was leaning against a locker, discussing something with Berry Punch, whom Sunset admittedly only knew for her striking visual similarity to Miss Cheerlie as well as her admirable devotion to her little sister, Ruby Pinch. "So, you'll be okay to host Ruby's party Norman? y'know I'll be happy to help with any of the preparations, balloons, banners, cupcakes, whatever." Berry asked, all the while rather testily attempting to shove a wrapped box tied up with a bow into her backpack, presumably a gift for the aforementioned party. "Norman" simply smiled and gave a light shake of his head in response, clearly finding amusement in Berry's frustration. "Chloe, and Cherry are both setting everything up as we speak Berry. We put up the decorations, I've got the catering order all ready, and we even booked alittle entertainment for it, trust me, you're in good hands." Sunset smiled at the exchange, It always warmed her heart to see the students of Canterlot High looking out for each other, it was a sign of old wounds healing and perhaps a chance at undoing all the damage she had caused. "Oh you're a lifesaver Norman, Mom and I thought we were out of luck when the skating rink canceled on us the other day. Without you, we never would have come up with something in time." Finally after a bit more struggling with her backpack,Berry finished packing her gift and continued her conversation with Norman. "Well if all thats done I guess all that's left to get is the birthday girl, I'll bring her by at around two if thats alright." "That's fine, I'll see you there." Berry gave Norman a quick smile and wave before heading down the hall towards sunset, whom, if she'd seen she gave no acknowledgement towards as she scampered along towards the exit. Not that Sunset would have minded at all, as she was currently in the process of pondering the conversation she'd just listened to. Unfortunately Sunset hadn't been aware that the party berry was discussing was today, This development would likely put a damper on her plans, as it would have kept her, already admittedly busy crush occupied for the rest of the day. She certainly didn't mind rescheduling her proposed "date", but she couldn't really figure out a time on the spot, and she doubted Norman would have the time to discuss it with her as he was probably already needed back at his workplace to get everything in place for the aforementioned party. Still, she traversed half the school, consequently seeing horrors no teenage unicorn girl was ever meant to behold, it'd feel like a waste if she didn't even attempt to ask, and the worst he could do was say no. Well no, actually there were a number of much harsher things he probably could have said besides "no", Sunset knew that all too well in her experience at Canterlot high after the fall formal event. Still, she'd heard it all before, and it didn't hold her back then either. Tentatively,almost apologetically, Sunset shuffled towards Norman, who seemed to be currently occupied by mobile device of some sort, tapping and scrolling on the little touch-screen device with a rather contemplative expression on his face. "Hey Norman whats u-" Norman's amber colored pupils, which were still locked on the device, shrunk with fear at the sound of the Unicorn girl's voice. In that instant countless scenarios of terror and humiliation flooded into his mind, and in a moment of pure reflexive instinct, he immediately scrambled into the familiar safety of his locker. Sunset winced at the harsh sound of the locker door slamming, a sound she used to revel in back when she'd torment Norman just to hold up her "bad girl" image. I suppose can't really blame him for wanting nothing to do with me after the way I treated him, oh well, maybe I can go over to sugar cube corner and drown my sorrows in a nice, big, bucket of deep fried- "S-Sunset?" Ventured a rather timid Norman from inside the locker, interrupting Sunset in her most depressing thoughts. "Yeah, it's me, you alright Norman?" Sunset heard a dry chuckle come from behind the locker door in response. "Well, I've been a little stressed at work lately, I've gone through a rather hard breakup recently, haven't had the best grades this year....oh and what was that other thing? ah yes, i'm currently stuck in a tiny green box." Sunset chuckled slightly, such a joke would have probably not gotten the same reaction had it been told by anyone else, which was mostly because very few people she knew could put such amusing dispassion and smarm in their voice. It was the kind of tone he often used at the front desk of his family's soda shop to repeatedly drone out to his somewhat slower customers that, no, refills were in fact not free for some beverage items and that they could in fact, not sit around and buy absolutely nothing just so they could use the free wifi or watch the television. "Alright, spare me you're life story, I'll get you outta there." Sunset teased as she took hold of the combination lock and began turning it to the proper position, guided not by the sequence of numbers, but rather by pure muscle memory born from the many times she'd needed to dig Norman out of his locker to intimidate and bully him at her leisure. It wasn't a particularly nice thing to recall, she admitted, but it did thankfully give her the skill needed to remove her crush from his current predicament. Which he wouldn't be in if I hadn't treated him like crap. So, I guess there's one trot forward and two trots back. Once she aligned the lock's pointer with the final number on the wheel she'd heard the distinctive "click" of the bolt unlatching, and swung open the door. Inside was a slightly rattled Norman, who flinched a little at her silhouette, but otherwise looked fine.Eventually, after a brief pause of uncertainty from both parties he finally spoke up. "........Thanks" He stated plainly, his voice retaining it's neutral tone though with a measured degree of appreciation and the ghost of a smile present his face. " You're welcome." she replied, offering a tender smile and outstretched hand, both of which he accepted gratefully. As she helped him out of the locker and back out into the hall; She took a moment to appreciate the feel of his hand, which, while somewhat rough and a little callous in places, had "well worn" feeling that she quite enjoyed. Unfortunately, a dry and awkward cough interrupted her thoughts, to which she looked over and saw Norman, casting a quizzical eyebrow and an expression of suspicion before looking down at her hand, still clasped onto his. She immediately jerked her own hand away from his as if she'd just touched a burning kettle. With a slight blush she looked back up at him and began to hastily apologize. "S-sorry, I uh....just wanted to make sure you wouldn't lose your footing." Norman simply smirked at the young unicorn girl's antics, and with a small amount of amusement evident in his voice, replied. "S'okay, anyways what did you need?" Sunset blinked in confusion for a moment before remembering that before all these shenanigans she'd actually had a point to approaching Norman. "Oh right, well I was just gonna ask you, if you're not too busy maybe we could go hang out? maybe catch a movie or watch something on TV?" She ventured hopefully as Norman frowned slightly in response, though sunset could tell it wasn't quite an angry or upset frown as much as a contemplative one. "Unfortunately "too busy" is probably most of what i'm going to be today." She expected as much, but at the same time was at least glad to have seen it through this far. "Thats fine, maybe another time then." Before she could turn around and walk off, Norman spoke up again. "Actually, why don't you come by the shop today, then maybe on my break we can discuss a time that works for both of us." "Okay!!" She agreed enthusiastically, internally berating herself for such a transparent outburst; which thankfully seemed to go unnoticed. "Alright, glad to hear it." And with that, the boy began a brisk run towards the exit,hurrying to get over to his workplace and prepare. Sunset stood patiently in place for a few moments, until she was completely sure Norman was out of both visual and auditory range, before giving a loud and triumphant "Squee" and jumping into the air. "Well, someone's certainly excited." A soft voice commented coyly, causing sunset to freeze in midair with horror, before dropping down and hastily trying to look casual. "C-Counselor Cadance!" she identified the voice, as belonging to the school's Counselor, a rather young member of staff who had recently married the chief of police. Currently she was propped beside an open classroom door, regarding the flustered student with look of mild amusement. "So....how long have you been standing the-" "The whole time." Sunset frowned harshly at the teacher, a vibrant red blush slowly spreading across her face. Both of which earned a kindly, somewhat sympathetic chuckle from the counselor before she continued on. "Seem's cupids arrow found its mark, wouldn't you say Sunset? Y'know if you need any advice, my door is always open to you." Sunset's frown lifted somewhat in response, her eyes shifting away from the staff member as she gave the offer some thought. She didn't really know Cadance personally and to be fairly honest, the older woman's interest in her personal life was a little off putting to her; sure she was the school counselor,but it still seemed a little too forward and random for Sunset's tastes. "With all due respect Miss Cadance, I don't think this is the kinda thing i'd like to discuss with school staff, In fact if you could do me a favor and keep this whole thing from getting out i'd appreciate it." "Of course, and you know if you ever change your mind, i'm here for you." Sunset smiled and gave a nod of agreement before thanking Cadance and making her exit, the same way Norman and Berry made theirs, subsequently contemplating if there was anything she'd actually wanted to see at the theater this week as she made her way out. Cadance waited until she was certain Sunset had left before carefully pulling out a pink cell phone and dialing up a familiar number. "Hello, who is this?" came the voice of a young man on the other end. "It's me Flash, Cadance" "Ah, Miss Cadance, you need me for something ma'm?" "As a matter of fact I do have something I need you for, my number one assistant. How would you like to help me play matchmaker?" Author's Note alright decided to take another stab at writing after my last computer (and subsequently my last fanfic) bit the dust, this time it's a little push for a pairing i'd seen popping up in a few places that i'd adopted as my OTP, Normsun!
A wretched hive of scumb and villainy"And then ah told em, "ah'd sooner lick a sweaty jockstrap, Twice! an' maybe the second time it'd taste worse" The entire table roared with laughter as Applejack regaled her friends with a story of her "delegations" with the flim flam brothers. Currently, the five rainbooms, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow dash, and Pinkie Pie, had all congregated at "The Soda Club". A small, independently owned and operated beverage shop belonging to a local cherry farmer by the name of Cherry jubilee, currently hosting a birthday party for one of their classmates sister, Ruby Pinch, to which the five were in attendance and were subsequently passing time waiting on their drinks, with some idol conversation. "I for the life of me, still can't fathom how those two manage to stay in business with those kind of practices, I couldn't possibly imagine they'd have many repeat customers at the very least." Rarity Interjected through her rather unladylike peels of laughter. "Ah think calling picking up random garbage and selling it to people for three times its worth "buisness" is being a bit too generous Rare." Applejack briskly declared, her gaze shifting towards the many patrons of the shop, seated at its many ruby tinted booths and tables. Some of whom were likewise attending the birthday, most notably applejack and rarity's respective sisters, Applebloom and Sweetiebelle, alongside their friend scootaloo. The quintessential birthday girl herself was seated at one of the many booths with her mother, father, and sister all the while happily enjoying a plate of mini sliders with fries and exploring the applications of the new phone she had just recieved from her big sister. Of course not everyone at the shop that day was attending, other had come from the next door laundromat to have some food and drinks while waiting for their clothes to finish washing, or from the gaming and comics store also nearby, to enjoy a snack while reading a comic, or to pick up quick meal for their D&D session. "Now this right here's a business, fairly priced, set up in a high traffic area, and decent enough food too. Certainly a fair step above them two snake oil salesmen, that's for sure." "Right, and I'm sure that's not bias at all from how they made you wear that banana suit that one time." Rainbow replied smugly from across the table, smirking as Applejack's irritated expression served to prove her right. Applejack opened her mouth as if to reply, before the door mounted bell gave a light "jingle", signaling the arrival of another customer. The girls expressions immediately brightened as they recognized the figure of their friend, sunset shimmer, walking through the door. "Sunny!!! over here Sunny!!." Pinkie pie yelled enthusiastically as she waved at the orange girl, completely unaware of or unphased by the spectical she was creating. Sunset smiled at her pink friends antics and quickly made her way over to the table, to the warm reception of all her close friends. "Hey girls, you all here for the party?" "Yupperooni! Berry invited us all to come to her sisters birthday, Glad to see she remembered to invite you too, it wouldn't have been nearly as fun if one of us got left out, alone, forgotten, left alone to stew in miser-." "Actually Pinkie, I wasn't invited, I came here to talk to one of the employees." Sunset replied, a slight hint of annoyance in her evident voice, though wiether its source was from not being invited or even told about the party, or pinkies lack of tact was far less obvious. "oooooohh......weeell....i'm sure they just forgot." Pinkie amended quickly, immediatly realizing that she might have let her mouth run away from her as per usual. Unfortunatly this rare moment of insight was cut short, as rather then ending there, she continued on trying to "reassure" Sunset. "I'm sure they didn't decide not to invite you as a way to snub you or because they think little of yo-" "Either way! we're glad you made it sugercube" Applejack interrupted, gently attempting to steer the conversation away from the subject as Sunset's irritation became far more visable. As if acting on some invisible cue, Rarity interjected, both to help dodge the uncomfortable topic and to voice a bit of her own curiosity. "What exactly were you hoping to discuss with this employee you mentioned, darling?That is, if you don't mind us asking?" Sunset gave a slightly unsure look in response, on the one hand she didn't really know how this proposed date would go, or even if he'd agree to it, and she hardly wanted to get the girls involved if it turned out to be nothing. "I.....don't mind you asking Rarity, but if its all the same i'd like to keep it between me and Norman, at least for now." "Who the heck is Norman?" Rainbow question to no-one in particular. Sunset pulled a light frown but otherwise said nothing, observing quietly, unnoticed by the rest of the group as they all started to puzzle over the familiar name. "It certainly does ring a bell" Rarity admitted, stroking her chin in contemplation. Meanwhile, Applejack was similarly wracking her brain, her eyes squinting in deep thought, a hand to her temple and her other hand repetitively snapping in an attempt to recall whom the name belonged to. "Ah got it!" she said after a few moments of contemplation "Normans the manager here, Cherry Jubilee's nephew, ah met him a while back when i'd taken a temp job for her." "Oh yeah, Normal Norman" Rainbow responded, causing Sunset to wince slightly at the unfavorable nickname, before speaking up again. "Well, either way i'm gonna go settle something with him. Keep my seat warm, I promise I won't be too long." Sunset waved goodbye to her friends, all of whom waved back(aside from pinkie who was currently heating up one of the seats with what appeared to be an over-sized hairdryer), before heading off in towards the "bar" already seeing two figures hunched over on the stools provided just in front of the counter. One of the figures she recognized as Trixie, a rather self obsessed illusionist she regrettably knew from school. The other was her ex-boyfriend Flash Sentry, Who, while less of pain then Trixie, was still a rather unwelcome audience to her little discussion. In front of both of them she spotted Norman himself, tending the bar dutifully for his two patrons. The bar itself was an odd little counterpart to the endearing "old timey malt shop" appeal found in the clean, ruby red tables and booths scattered throughout the shop. Despite it's bright red countertop and ample lighting, the bar refused to surrender it's somber atmosphere, it's current occupants managing to maintain a contemplative silence, despite the celebration and antics of sugar high teens and pre-teens occurring, naught two feet away from it. "What am I doing here?" Trixie grumbled into her empty cup, breaking the oppressive silence of the lonely bar. "Warming that stool, Drinking all my root beer, and from the sounds of it feeling sorry for yourself." Norman offered dryly as he grabbed Trixie's cup and started filling it back up at the nearby tap. A tired expression was present on his face, not quite one of hostility or even annoyance with Trixie, but still very clearly lacking in sympathy and running out of patience. Still, Trixie continued, oblivious or simply uncaring of the young barkeeps growing frustration. "Trixie Should be producing musical masterpieces, She should be preforming feats of spectacular magic for adoring audiances! not entertaining peons at some brats birthday party!" "Well if "Trixie" wants to get paid she'll swallow her pride and do some humble, and honest work. Some of us don't need accolades for every single thing we do." "Easy for you to say! you're used to amounting to nothing!" Norman flinched slightly at her comment, though it went unnoticed to everyone besides Sunset, who was currently seething with anger, and slowly beginning to remember why she didn't like Trixie. where the hell does she get off telling ANYONE they amount to nothing, she should be grateful he's giving her pompous, blue, butt any kind of job in the first place, the ungrateful little- "Excuse me ma'm, can I help you at all?" Sunset was pulled from her mental rant by a nearby voice brimming with impatience, and after eventually tearing her gaze away from the scene, she came face to face with Normans cousin Chloe Commons. Like Norman she was also an employee at her families soda shop, though she tended the many tables as a waitress rather then working the counter. Her light lavander face was twisted into a frown, and her violet eyes fixated on Sunset with a, stern and unapologetic glare, usually reserved for murderers or people who drive too slow in fast lanes. "Well actually, I was just waiting to talk to someone" Chloe narrowed her eyes venomously, causing thick beads of sweat to roll down Sunset's neck as she wilted under the girls hostile gaze. "I don't think my cousin has time to talk with you Sunset. As you can see from your gawking he's very busy with some of our paying customers." The former unicorn winced slightly, both at her intentions being so clearly found out and at the clearly aggressive tone with which she'd been adressed. She had the distinct feeling any arguement she put forth would be immediatly brushed aside by the younger girl, still she fumbled to find a response, unwilling to give up after coming so far. "Well I can see that....but I-" "If you can see that, then you should have no problem holding off until tomorrow. My cousin is already worn out as is from planning this party, and i'm sure he doesn't have time to entera-." "Hey, Chloe! mind getting me another coke float?" Sunset flinched as Chloe whipped her head towards the bar, her long, chocolate brown hair coming an inch shy of smacking her in the face, as she searched for the source of this request. The voice in question belonged to Flash Sentry, the up until now, silent barfly seated next to Trixie, currently holding up an empty glass and looking at Chloe expectantly. The haggard young employee threw one last glare at Sunset before begrudgingly taking Flash's glass and going through the door at the back of the bar, presumably to grab some ice cream from the freezer. Sunset responded in kind, defiantly sticking her tongue out at the lavender girl as soon as her back was turned. A light cough interrupted Sunset, and turned her attention back to Flash Sentry, who gave her a knowing wink (which she admitted probably wasn't intended to be as creepy as it felt to her) before glancing back at Trixie, currently talking to (or at) Norman about the undue hatred she'd had to endure after the battle of the bands, and how she'd been a victim of the dazzlings mind control as well as the scorn of everyone else involved, all of whom clearly envied her superior musical talents. Meanwhile, Norman halfheartedly began to pour her another drink, all the while casting a disturbingly glazed look at a box of rat poison in dusty, cobwebbed filled bottom corner behind the bar. "Oh, Sunset nice of you to drop by." Flash announced loudly, causing Sunset to worry about his mental state. Thankfully Sunset was able to glean the true intent of Flash's overly loud statement as Norman quickly stirred from whatever grim fantasies he was indulging and turned to face her, his dreary expression giving way to a smile as he waved at the ex-unicorn. "Heya Sunset, didn't expect to see you again." Sunset smiled and waved back, before the implications of Normans statement sunk in. "You invited me over here, remember Norman? why wouldn't I come by?" "Yeah, but most people seem to just sorta....well.....I don't stick in their minds I guess. I half expected you to forget that we talked earlier today." The statement left Sunset experiencing some odd combination of, pity, indignation, and disbelief. Sure she saw first hand that most of her friends didn't know who Norman was, but that was understandable,it was a big school and it wasn't like they'd been particularly close to him, at the very least it was certainly less ridiculous than the assumption that someone would forget someone the just met today. Before she could respond however, Normans attention seemed to shift from her, to the distinctive sound of footsteps clacking on freshly polished tiles coming from just behind her. "Hey Berry, Your sister enjoying the party?" Norman greeted the newcomer happily, giving a short wave over Sunset's shoulder. Sure enough as Sunset turned to look behind, Berry Punch was there, frozen in her tracks, and nervously brushing the back of her head. "Erm....hey......you, Nolan right?" Normans face immediately fell, his former cheery expression disappearing under a heavy sigh and a light shake of his head. "It's Norman" He stated crossly, causing Berry to hang her head slightly in shame and embarrassment, as she hastily made an attempt to apologize. "Sorry, I guess I just had a lot on my mind and I-" "It's fine Berry, just tell me how the party's going." Norman interrupted, giving a wave of his hand in an attempt to assuage Berry's tension. Berry seemed to brighten considerably in response, giving Norman an affectionate smirk that Sunset admitted, might have made her jealous, if Berry hadn't merely a few minutes ago forgotten the name of the boy she was so suddenly making googly eyes at. "Oh! Ruby's really enjoying the party, she was a little disappointed when she heard she couldn't have it at the skating rink. Buuuut I think the "Soda Club's" charming, diligent and might I add handsome manager managed to make it up to her." Norman frowned and gave a light blush at Berry's none-too subtle tease, Berry herself giggling lightly at Normans reaction. It was right at that point that "might have been jealous" became past tense, and subsequently Sunset had decided Berry needed to leave. However many unbroken bones she left with depended on how quickly she would get the message. The ex-unicorn lifted a yellow fist to her mouth and coughed loudly, Pulling Berrys attention away from her jokingly flirty conversation. "Well, i'm glad you two are catching up, but I was about to discuss something with Norman. So id very much appreciate it if you left, that is if you don't mind." A slight tint of Sunset's older, "bullying" voice was present in her tone, and judging by her frightened expression and slight quivering, Berry was quite aware that "minding" wouldn't be the best course of action. "Oh right, sorry I was just, playing around with my frie-" Sunset's narrowed her eyes threateningly at the girl "Y'know what, lemme grab my order real quick and i'll be out of your hair." Sunset nodded in response as Berry Ordered herself a small meal consisting of hot dogs, chips and presumably an inordinate amount of preservatives and dashing back to her table. As she watched Berry leave, she felt whatever jealousy she harbored towards the other girl wither away into depression and shame. She'd already made such great progress and here she was letting some crush drag her back down. With a light sigh, she walked over to the bar and took a seat on the stool to the left of Flash, burying her forehead in her hands as the sombre mood of the bar washed over her. Looking back towards her friends table, she noticed all of them leveling concerned looks at her, clearly looking to her for awnsers. Near instantly Sunset felt a new wave of disappointment and shame overtake her as she sat in silence. "I'm Sorry..." she whimpered out quietly, unsure of whom she was saying it to, but feeling the need to say it out loud all the same. "None of us are the ones you're gonna have to apologize to Sunny." Norman stated plainly as he began dipping a corndog in cheese and called out the name of whatever poor fool ordered that monstrosity. "Well, not about that I guess.But you know I've got plenty more to apologize for, especially to you." Before she could continue, Norman held up his hand, requesting the former unicorn be silent, a gesture which admittedly agitated Sunset, but she complied regardless . "I'm gonna stop you right there Sunshine, partially because I've got my own little admission to make, and also because I need to get this guy his food." He said as he handed the horrific cheese and bacon covered mess to an off duty cop. Sunset Flash and trixie all gagged in perfect unison as they watched the older man take a huge bite of the heart-stopping abomination. Almost near instantly, Norman began wiping his hands with nearby napkin and clicking his tongue disapprovingly. "Ugh, suddenly I miss the days it was all just coffee and doughnuts with those guys. Anyways, back to my little admission." Norman turned to face Sunset, lightly brushing a stray lock of chocolate brown hair out of his face. Almost Immediately Sunset felt her previous annoyance melt away as she imagined running her hands through his thick brown hair, despite her bitter struggle to hold onto her anger, if nothing else then for prides sake. Silently she wondered what kind of secret he might be sharing. A tiny, almost humorous little theory formed in her mind that perhaps he might be confessing his own affections for her. Of course she found herself dismissing this theory almost immediately. Yeah....right, I haven't exactly been the best of friends to him, he probably wouldn't want to start dating someone like me after all that, would he? "For a while, after the fall formal...." Norman looked away as he spoke, and sunset could hear the slightest hint of a frustrated sigh as he struggled to find the nerve to continue. Sunset leaned closer, slowly beginning to wonder if her previous theory might have had more credibility then she previously thought . "...Well, it's hard to say, but..." Maybe he's has been feeling the same way about me,despite how I Treated him. Maybe this is my chance to make up for it all, and to be more open with him. The former equestrian gave a small but still very genuine smile at the young manager, her heart glimmering with hope. which, sadly, only made Norman's next words that much harder on the both of them. "...I hated your guts" Sunset blinked idly in a moment of non-comprehension and confusion before the weight of Normans statement slammed directly into her like the kick of a drunken mule. Admittedly part of her knew it was silly to think Norman didn't feel resentment for how he'd been treated, even sillier to assume he'd also been harboring some secret crush for her. But that did little to soften the blow she felt in knowing it for sure. She'd hoped that maybe he'd taken to her more than the others students at Canterlot high or at least that he'd be timid enough not to resent her too much for it, and that maybe she'd have a decent chance of avoiding the volatile subject altogether. She looked over to Flash, who was busy directing a disapproving frown at Norman, who was currently choosing to ignore it as he spoke up again. "I know you probably didn't want to hear about that, but I don't want you to go thinking you're the only one who needs to apologize." "It's alright, I suppose I deserved it after all the horrible things I did." Sunset said, with no small amount of uncertainty. Trying her best to appreciate the fact that he was coming clean, despite the fact that it was indeed not what she wanted to hear. The young manager shook his head calmly in response to the former equestrian's admirable attempt to dismiss the statement, clearly not willing to leave his apology at that. "With all due respect Sunny, you're completely wrong on both accounts, but i'm getting to that. Anyways, like I said, i'd still been pretty angry at you after the whole fall formal event.Did I believe you were genuine about turning over a new leaf? Maybe, but I really didn't care either way, for the most part it just, sort of felt good to be the one doing the tormenting. Of course after the battle of the bands I didn't show it outright anymore, but it didn't go away either, and the minute Anon-a-miss or whatever started spreading crap to everyone I was probably one of the first people to start assuming you were up to it." Norman looked down at the counter, his back hunched over as if the shame of his previous actions was physically weighing down on him. "It wasn't until I saw you crying in the hallways, when your only friends in the world decided to turn their back on you, that I realized just how lonely you must have felt. Not just then, but ever since you came here. You arrived here on a planet filled with monsters on two legs, alone, separated from your family, your friends, everything that was familiar to you. And here I was, a guy with a loving family, friends, a job, a generally safe and productive life, and I decided to torment you to make myself feel better. Because obviously I was the one who need to feel better in this situation." Norman sighed in resignation and opened a nearby fridge, pulling out a glass bottle filled with an unnamed soda. After popping open the drink and taking a large gulp from it, he continued his explanation, this time gesturing with the bottle for emphasis. "And around Christmas too, of course, that one time of the where we should be sharing happiness instead of scorn, and there we were, spending that time making a girl who doesn't even get to be "home for the holidays" miserable." He took a moment from his irritated tirade to pause, both for breath and another swig from his bottle of mystery liquid, which Sunset was beginning to doubt was actually soda. "We all focused so much on what you did or what you were trying to do, none of us ever stopped to think what we would do or what we did end up doing. I mean I couldn't honestly say i'd turn down the chance at power and fame or at least infamy, and that's before being stranded in a dimension filled with hideous man-beasts. Either way, you deserve an apology as much as anyone else does." Sunset adopted a slightly contemplative expression in response to Normans speech, finding herself slightly conflicted in how to reply. on the one hand, she was happy that he wasn't still angry with her, and had decided to move past everything she'd done and give her a second chance. On the other hand, she wasn't quite so sure his assessment was very accurate. Sure she was alone upon coming to the human world, but aside from the princess, whom she'd already distanced herself from when she came here, she'd already been alone beforehand. Similarly she didn't really see humans as "hideous" or "monsters" as Norman assumed. Aside from some initial misgivings, she'd never seen a human as anything less than a pony, and she certainly didn't think any of her behavior was justified by them not being her own species. Though she supposed it did make sense for his view of another species interaction with his own to be a little ignorant. Aside from humans there was no other sentient life on earth, so there was likely little frame of reference for them. Either way Sunset decided not to debate it with him directly, there was nothing wrong with Norman feeling empathetic, and regardless of whether he was right or wrong, it was a sweet gesture all the same. "Alright, how about a compromise?" she finally said with a warm smile. Norman raised an inquisitive eyebrow in response, but otherwise said nothing. "We can both be sorry together, how does that sound?" Norman immediately dropped his inquisitive expression and gave his own kindly smile in response. "I guess that'd be alright." The two remained silent,both of them taking a brief moment to bask in the glow of this new start. Well, that wasn't so hard.Maybe this will work out better then I thought. "So......I see the shop's doing well. You've been hard at work I take it" Norman snorted at Sunsets comment, as if she'd just made some kind of witty remark or joke. "Well, what passes for work here, I suppose. Mostly I just stand here at the desk, trying to keep the big scary expenses number low and the big juicy income number high. Aside from that I fill cups while people talk and occassionally pretend to listen." He said dryly, further down the bar Trixie could be heard angrily grumbling something inaudibly into her cup. "Speaking of which, you want anything Sunshine?" Asked Norman as he gestured to the large menu behind him. She hadn't thought about it before, but she was somewhat hungry. She'd had to skip lunch already thanks to an unfortunate oversight in her scheduling and she'd been hoping that she could have bought something at the concession stand during her date with Norman, which didn't seem to be an option any longer. Tentatively, she scanned the menu for something that didn't completely disgust her, eventually ordering herself a small sandwich, chips, and a grape soda. Norman nodded lightly and jotted down her order on a small notepad, the scratching sound of pen on paper replacing any conversation. But rather quickly, another, far louder sound was there to chase off the ambient silence that had already begun creeping its way back into the bar. The source of the sound was the main door to the kitchen, being slammed open, behind said door was a rather agitated Chloe, tray in hand, her violet eyes casting a harsh glare on Sunset, causing the ex-equestrian to recoil slightly. Chloe's hostility drew a disapproving look from her cousin. Which, upon seeing she immediately relented, looking away from Canterlot high's former queen of mean and begrudgingly serving Flash his Coke Float. "I'm glad you're here chloe, would you kindly go take this order to Bakin Bitz?" Norman asked calmly, his tone making it abundantly clear that this was in fact not a request. Chloe looked as if she was about to protest, but thought better of it, snatching the order from Normans outstreteched hand before giving Sunset another dirty look and storming off. Meanwhile at the other side of the bar, a certain blue skinned illusionist had observed the scene silently, a cunning smirk forming on her face as she watched the lavender girl walk away. Norman gave Sunset an apologetic look, before immediately giving her an apologetic statement to go with it. "Sorry Sunny, she can be a little, overprotective at times." "That's ok, I know how it can be with family." Sunset reassured him, vaguely recalling Applebloom and Sweetiebelle's reaction to her spending time with their sisters. "Either way, I'll have a talk with her about it, maybe ask Auntie Jubilee if she could say something. After all, can't have her acting that way around my friends." Sunset could feel a slight flutter in her heart at the mention of the word "friend", admittedly she'd hoped for more then that, but it was a good place to start. And it wasn't as if, she had a lot of close personal friends aside from the Rainbooms. A light cough from nearby broke Sunset from her happy contemplation, and sure enough she turned to see the source of was none other then Flash Sentry, who had until now, remained silent. "So, Norman, haven't met up with you in a while, you've been seeing anyone?" Norman, who had already finished off the last of his mystery beverage, was already in the process of aquiring another from the fridge when he'd heard Flash's inquiry. He regarded the question with a smirk mild amusement "Sentry, if you're coming out of the closet, let me congratulate you, but I don't play for that-" "Don't be more of an ass then you usually are dude, just answer the question." Flash interrupted loudly,doing his best to ignore Sunsets blush and Trixie's poorly concealed snickering. "No, I haven't been seeing anyone since Blue and I broke up." "Still holdin out hope you might get back together?" "I'm not stupid Flash, I know it's through. Those....things made sure of that during the battle of the bands." Sunset cast her eyes away from Norman as he ranted, knowing full well who Norman was referring to. "Speaking of the Dazzlings, you happen to see them anywhere Norman?" She asked tentatively "Do you see filet-o-fish on the menu?" "N-No, not really.." "Then I haven't seen those tuna-heads, and for their sake I hope it stays that way." Sunset grimaced, slightly taken aback by the rather cold response. However, before she could press the issue the door to the kitchen opened again, and once again, Chloe walked in tray in hand, still harboring an expression of distrust and general dislike towards Sunset, but otherwise remaining silent as she set Sunset's food down in front of her. Sunset rubbed her hands in anticipation as she looked down at the 6-inch ham sub, having only now realized how hungry she was. " Thanks Chloe." Chloe waved off Sunset's gratitude with a mild disinterest. Ignoring his cousins icy demeanor, Norman tentatively tapped a few buttons on the cash register and rang up Sunset's meal. "That'll be five eighty nine." Nodding In response, Sunset rummaged through her pocket in search of her wallet. Sadly, much to her increasing embarrassment, she found nothing. A quick check of her other pocket had reinforced her worry, as she found it too was vacant. Unfortunately, she did a very poor job of hiding her stress from the rest of the bar, as the other patrons had all begun to stare at her expectantly, each of them likely coming to the same realization she had. "I....guess I forgot my wallet at home." Sunset cast her gaze downwards, and out of the corner of her eye she could see Norman do the same, both of them clearly off put by the situation. "Well, y'know Sunshine, I wish I could give these sandwiches out for free, it'd certainly benefit the gentlemen over in the alley nearby...but..." "It's fine, I wasn't hungry anyways." No sooner had she spoken then her traitorious stomach had decided to loudly rumble in protest, causing her face to redden. Norman once again gave a downcast look, scratching the back of his head and idly tapping his fingers on the counter. Briefly she considered fleeing to her house to boil some noodles or warm up some leftovers before a sharp intake of breath snapped brought her attention back to the young manager in front of her. "Alright look, I don't usually do this, but how about I open a tab. You'll get to eat today and you'll pay me back by the end of the week." He wore a look of light trepidation on his face, clearly doing this rather begrudgingly, but still attempting to offer Sunset a way out of this predicament. She immediately brightened upon hearing his deal, admittedly the food wasn't a huge issue for her, but it was a nice gesture regardless. "Thanks Norman" She said between large, onion-filled bites of her sandwich. The manager smiled in response. "Don't mention it." He looked over his shoulder quietly, as if worried there might be someone listening in, before leaning over to Sunset and whispering in her ear. "Seriously don't, i'd rather not be known for doing this sort of thing if you catch my drift." Sunset nodded in response before making a gesture of "zipping" her mouth and throwing away the zipper....or key, she was never really sure what it was in that metaphor but she was throwing it. Satisfied by her response, Norman returned to gulping down his questionable beverage before speaking up again. "Why exactly did you want to know if I'd seen the Dazzlings?" "Oh, well for one I wanna make sure they're not up to anything right now." "And, aside from that?" "Well, lately I've been finding....evidence that points to the Sirens not being the only thing thing that passed from Equestria over to here. And I was hoping, with how long with how long they've been around, they might know something about whatever else might be out and about here." Norman raised an eyebrow skeptically, rather unsure of what to make of Sunset's new information. "You think something else came through the same portal you and the Dazzlings came out of?" she nodded before continuing to munch on her sandwich. "Well, what kinda "somethings" are we talking about? "I couldn't really tell you for sure, could be anything, changlings, manticores, sphinx, valkyries, Trolls, Wyverns." "Sunset, I Know the Sirens managed to exist on earth for this long, but I seriously doubt this city could be hosting a parade of monsters like that without someon-" Norman was stopped mid-sentence by a mighty rumble that shook the ground. The entire shop sat in stunned silence, some of the patrons murmuring about an earthquake. Suddenly another followed it, this time sounding closer. The rumbles continued, growing louder and nearer with each passing moment. Until finally, as it had almost assuredly reached the door, it stopped, much to the relief of the shops many customers. This relief was short lived however, as the silence so gave way to a loud crashing sound as the front wall was torn asunder by a giant, winged reptillian beast with gangly limbs. Norman's eyes widened, pure unrelenting fear gripping him as he seized up like a deer in headlights. "Sunset....if I ask what that thing is, would you be willing to lie to me and say it gives hugs or free candy or something." Sunset, who was in a similarly jarred state, shook her head vigorously before glaring at the creature in contempt. "Not gonna sugar-coat it Norman, it does nothing of the sort, That's a jabberwocky." "You mean the one with jaws that bite and claws that catch!?" "I'm afraid so, you stay here Norman, I gotta go figure out a game-plan with the girls." Norman complied by quickly darting under his bar, pressing the Silent alarm underneath and praying that Sunset would be alright. Meanwhile Sunset was in full-focus mode as she rushed over to her friends table, through all the screaming and panicing civilians, and called out to them. "Guys, we've got an emergency." "We can see that for ourselves Sunset, what is that thing?" Rainbow replied exasperatedly. "A jabberwocky." "A jabber-whatnow?" Applejack questioned. "Y'know, jaws that bite, claws that catch, real bad news basically." Sunset stated dryly "So how on earth are we gonna stop it?" "Well I think I might have a way, but I'll need some stuff "from home" First." Meanwhile, at the other end of the table, Fluttershy's eyes widened as she stared up at the massive creature. "Whatever you do Sunset I think you'll need to do it fast, look!" Flutteryshy pointed up at the creatures claw to reveal what was in it's grasp, a rather terrified Berry Punch, Currently being waved around by the creature as it had already begun yelling out demands to some beat cops who had arrived on the scene. Sunset's pupils shrank with horror as she saw the girl being shaken around like a ragdoll by the merciless reptile. Deciding to take action, she cast a nervous glance to the creatures head to make sure it was distracted, before walking behind it and attempting to whisper to the hostage. "Berry, don't worry, we'll get you out of here." The young mulberry girl smiled groggily at her, clearly dizzy from being shaken about so violently. Sunset felt the urge to smile back, before she was reminded of her earlier interactions with the girl. "....And uh, also i'm sorry for snapping at you earlier." "Oh, don't worry about that Sunset." Berry replied, still retaining her groggy smile. "I probably shouldn't have interrupted you when you were trying to talk to Norman, I'm sure it was important." "Well, either way It hardly gave me any right to get so hostile with you, and I'd kinda hoped I'd already gotten past that kind of behavior." "It's alright, nobodies perfect, and the fact that you're apologizing already means so much." "Thanks Berry, and I promise, i'll try and make it up to you later, somehow." "Well, if you wanna make it up to me..." She gestured towards her giant scaly captor, who was still engaged in negotiation with the local police. "Right, right I'm on it, Pinkie!" Pinkie Pie stepped forward and gave Sunset a salute. "You and the rest of the girls stay here and try to keep this thing from doing anything rash, I'm gonna go grab some reagents from the portal and try to cast a Vorpal enchantment." "Oki doki loki." Pinkie responded quietly, pulling out a megaphone and zipping over to the police blockade. Meanwhile the rest of the group gave a quick thumbs up before taking up their own places to try and help talk the creature down. Nodding in confirmation, Sunset slowly began to sneak away from the monster and out the door, before frantically sprinting towards Canterlot high once she was sure she was out of perceptible range. A thousand thoughts rushed through her head, most of them involved worrying about her friends, or wondering where the jabberwocky had come from and why it had suddenly decided to attack an innocent little soda shop and get itself cornered by law enforcement. But among those valid and completely understandable concerns, only one managed to stick out to her for some odd reason. I need to remember my wallet next time I go out. Author's Note whew, this took a waaaay longer time than it probably should have I think, I might go ahead and look into some better methods of writing so I can get these out faster and maybe have them come out slightly less "rambling" (part of it is probably my scheduling being "whenever Its late enough that I feel like I have to do it.") regardless, go ahead and toss in some feedback, tell me what I've been doing wrong, what I've been doing right or even just where you'd like to see this go.
Early to Sunset, Early to RiseAuthor's Note Well, this was probably one of my hardest to write, worse yet its probably the one I've felt the worst about. No matter how I've done It I don't think I've ever gotten a version I'm completely happy with. While I don't want to list off all the things that upset me here (I don't want to put any bias in your view of it) I'll say two big things were trying to write a narrated flashback sequence and the fact that, that flashback sequence sorta put Sunset in a position to be all mopey again. Hopefully though this difficulty is just a speedbump and the next chapter will proceed much more smoothly, until then I hope you read this one and give me your thoughts on it. PS: probably some grammatical errors, but it's late so my editing will have to wait until morning. If you see any feel free to point them out, it makes it easier. Early to Sunset, Early to Rise "And so we all gathered here today to witness the coronation of Equestria's newest Princess! Sunset Shimmer!" the gathered crowd filled Canterlot castle with thunderous applause, as Sunset Shimmer, the lady of the hour, stood in absolute radiance, her wings majestically unfurled for the whole world to see. With a light gesture from her hoof the newly crowned princess called for quiet from her subjects, and slowly they all seemed to comply, their vigorous stomping and clapping eventually dying down. "Let me just say how honored I am to be standing here before you today, not only a princess, but also a changed mare. For I admit, there was a time when I was scrambling in the darkness, searching for power and status without so much as a passing thought for others. And I might still have been on that dark and resentful path to this day, had it not been for the intervention of Princess Twilight Sparkle...." She pointed a hoof at a purple alicorn in attendance nearby, who blushed slightly as crowd began to cheer and applaud for her. " ...The support of my nearest and dearest friends..." At that a small group of humans, comprised of Pinkie,Rainbow Dash, Rarity,Applejack,and Fluttershy clapped loudly, their tall biped frames clearly visible even as far back as they were situated. "....And of course, the affection and compassion of my dearly beloved, Norman!" As Sunset spoke that name, the crowded sea of ponies parted, not that they needed to, for the young human for whom they made way clearly towered over all of them. He gave a kindly smile as he walked over to the yellow mare, who gratefully returned it as she hovered up to eye level and nuzzled him affectionately, the warm show of affection met with a chorus of "aww's" from the gathered crowd. Upon completion of the nuzzling, Sunset pulled back and looked into the warm amber eyes of her beloved, framed perfectly by his long, silky, brown hair. "Sunset...Darling..." He said briskly, his voice slightly more....."posh" then she remembered. "Yes, Norman?" "...Could you Please roll over or something, you're getting drool all over my new coat.." Sunset snapped awake, quickly realizing that she had fallen asleep in the car and more to the point, was currently drooling on Rarity's shoulder. She quickly moved away from Rarity's completely fabulous new designer jacket, wiping the drool off of her face and blushing in embarrassment. "Sorry Rarity, guess i'm just really tired from.." "Fighting a giant fire breathing lizard to the death with a flaming sword?" "....yeah, that." Rarity smiled and gave Sunset a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Think nothing of it dear, after all, I'm sure whatever dream you were having about this "Norman" person was certainly worth it." Her comment earned a light blush from Sunset, as she thought back to the dream, and what humiliating things she might have said out loud had the dream not ended when it did. Thankfully she didn't have to worry about it for too long as the car slowly pulled up to their destination, The Humble Apple family abode. Which was good, because being packed between Rarity and Applejack for the entire trip had put Sunset in the crossfire of their petty arguments, and truth be told, she wasn't entirely certain she could survive another scuffle at ground zero. Pinkie Pie slowly pulled the "party van" into the driveway, her face eschewed with a rather uncharacteristic look of concentration. She'd always hated parking uphill, and it was especially difficult with the apple families vehicles already parked beside her. Finally, after some very careful adjusting, pinkie brought the van to a stop and gave everyone else in the van an affirmative "thumbs up" , a gesture everyone took as a sign to begin piling out of the overcrowded van. "he he....well if you all don't look like a bunch a wild turkeys on the night before thanksgiving, slow down there whippersnappers there ain't no rush." came a kindly old voice just next to them, belonging to Granny Smith, who was currently being helped out of her own vehicle by Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle. Eventually after some struggling, the six managed to escape the vehicle and enter the house. Inside the Crusaders had already begun recounting the events from earlier today at the Soda Club. "-and then the big scaly monster thing grabbed Berry Punch!" Squeaked Sweetie Belle to the two silently smiling and nodding adult figures, all the while clenching her fist to represent the creature holding Berry in its claw. "And the cops were all like! "We have the area surrounded!" Added scootaloo, who had her index finger and thumb out to form an imaginary "gun" which she pointed at the Sweetie Belle monster. Suddenly Applebloom joined in, valiantly wielding a rolled up newspaper against the sweetie-beast. "But then Sunset came outta nowhere and was like "get away from her you..bi-erm....you itch! and then she cut its head clean off! and it was all like bluuurg and she was all like-" "Hehe...alright youngins ah think that's enough tall tales for one....." Granny Smith found herself unable to finish, as she took a glance towards the doorway, and, thanks to the ample lighting of the apple family home, saw the state of each of the six girls. The first was Sunset who's Signature leather jacket was torn in several places, revealing a number of vicious claw-marks she had earned in her battle, and in her hand was a replica broadsword, bought at a nearby pawnshop and currently glowing a dim teal color from it's vorpal enchantment. Right behind her was an uncharacteristically grumpy looking Pinkie Pie, most likely upset with the many scorch marks on her hair and clothes, along with the tiny ember of flame still present at the tip of her hair curl. Fluttershy was attending to a nasty looking bruise on Rainbow Dash's abdomen where the creature struck her with its tail. Applejack fiddled with a makeshift bandage Rarity had applied to her head after the Jabberwocky had backhanded her, hard. And Finally, Rarity herself seemed to be hiding whatever scarring or bruises she had earned behind a new jacket she'd acquired at some point, which she held tightly over her body. "Well shut mah mouth an call me a jackalope, what happened to ya'll? an' please tell me why ya ain't at the hospital getting treated for all......THIS!" Granny demanded as she moved to try and help Sunset over to the coach. "Well, Applebloom and her friends covered most of it, as for why we're not at the hospital...it's.....well it's partly my fault.." Sunset looked down guiltily, a painful expression crossing her face, although one couldn't be sure if it wasn't from her various wounds. "...I, I didn't want to risk the doctors becoming suspicious of me, considering I've got no background, no family, no birth certificate.....and I guess I told the girls about this and..." "And ah suggested that maybe we could come here and get a check up from the family physician instead." Applejack interrupted, nervously scratching the back of her head as she was set upon by granny smith's harshest glare. The Apple Family matriarch mulled over her granddaughter's request, silently considering the ramifications of going along with their little plan. She'd have to schedule an appointment and it was unlikely their physician would be able to come over tonight,she'd have to tell the other girls parents that she was having them over, and she didn't rightly enjoy lying to her neighbor's especially with something like this. Unfortunately whilst pondering what to do about this situation Granny had made the mistake of looking towards Sunset's face, and was thus greeted by what could only be described as "weaponized puppy eyes". "Ah suppose ah can schedule an appointment with Zecora tomarrow." Granny Smith barely had time to react before Sunset clung to her in a spontaneous hug, small Tears forming in her eyes as she blurted out her gratitude. "Thank you, Thank you, THANK YO-" Unfortunately, Sunset's Acute sense of self awareness had managed to kick in too late, and only in the midst of her impromptu hug had she realized the awkward situation she had created for herself. She looked around to the other girls, and while most tried to keep up a good poker face, they were all obviously either trying not to laugh, attempting to suppress the urge to "daaaw" at her, or some kind of combination of the two. Sunset hastily let go of Applejacks grandmother, immediately straightening out her clothes and clearing out her throat in an ultimately futile attempt to deflect the embarrassment she had just earned. "T-thank you very much Miss Smith." "Aw ain't no trouble dear, but, how's about you girls try not ta make a habit a' getting this banged up." "Deal." After talking to their parents and assuring them that they were fine and had decided to spend the night at Applejack's, the girls made their way into the kitchen for a quick snack before going upstairs. While Pinkie, Applejack and Rainbow were busying themselves gathering a bag of chips and some finger sandwiches, Rarity and Fluttershy had both decided to grab a much lighter plate of vegetables and dip. Sunset meanwhile, looked on passively, her own snack limited to a can of iced tea and a few peanuts. Applejack looked up from her sandwich to stare quizzically at Sunset and her meager portion of food. "Is that all yer gonna have? Y'know their's plenty to eat and we sure as heck don't mind." "No, that's alright Applejack, I'm actually not that hungry right now, I already ate pretty recently at the Soda Club this afternoon." "Oh? and did you happen to eat in the company of this "Norman" fellow we keep hearing about?" "W-well yes, but that doesn't mean anything, I was just hungry, so I ordered something to eat while I was talking with Norman about..." Immediately something "clicked" in Sunset's head causing her to let out a severely agitated groan. "urgh....dammit, I didn't get a chance to schedule our da-erm...our day off, his day off, with me, not mine of course because I don't really wor-" Rarity placed her hand upon Sunset's shoulder, inturrupting the unicorn girl in the middle of her long winded explanation. "Darling please, Just stop, you're not fooling anybody." "Am I that obvious?" "Well Sunset, you were saying his name in your sleep, I doubt you dream about just any boy you meet with." Sunset gave a defeated sigh before helping herself to another handful of peanuts. "Alright fine, so I've kinda got my eye on a boy, It's not a big deal, at least not compared to the giant lizard monster that we fought." "Not a big deal! Sunset this could be your soulmate, your one and only, your knight in shining armor!" "Or he could just be a guy.....A really cute, mature, and well spoken guy, but still just a guy, and you could stop digging into it so much." In the midst of her arguing Sunset had already begun angrily cramming her snack into her mouth all the while continuing to level a glare at Rarity that told her to drop the subject. "Y-Yes, dreadfully sorry darling, I didn't it mean to pry." Sunset's expression softened, and after swallowing her food she gave her fashionista friend a warm smile. "It's alright Rarity, I know romance tends to be one of your.....Interests, I just, dunno if I wanna get into all the details of my....relationship status, right now." Rarity nodded in response and for the most part seemed to drop the issue. Sunset had been able to enjoy the blessed silence for a few more minutes before another voice began to speak up, this time from Rainbow Dash. "So when exactly did this start?" The ex-unicorn gave an indignant huff before cramming another handful of food in her mouth and angrily looking away from the rainbow haired athlete, clearly not willing to dignify her question with any kind of response. Suddenly, a gasp came from across the kitchen. Everyone's heads swiveled around towards the direction of the sound, only to see Pinkie Pie, having nearly dropped her canned soda in her utter shock. "Hold on a minute!" Rainbow sighed as she prepared herself to help get her pink haired friend up to speed. "You mean you all don't know?" The eyes of the entire group widened in response to Pinkie's statement, each of them moving slightly closer to hear what their friend had to say. "Sunny's been crushing on Norman ever since,well......probably forever." Immediately Sunset began making a cutting motion with her hand at her neck, indicating she wanted Pinkie to drop this particular subject. "Are you all right Sunny? Y'know you really shouldn't eat those peanuts so fast, you might get one caught in your throat or something." Before Sunset could finish swallowing the food in her mouth so she could properly reply, Rarity saw her chance and spoke up. "So, how exactly do you know this darling?" "Oooh story time! gimmie a sec and i'll tell you!" Pinkie chirped happily as she rummaged through her hair and eventually pulled out a large, well decorated book. "It was a many moons ago....and by "many moons" I mean a couple months...." I had been skipping through the hallways on my merry way to french class, On the way I noticed a guy in an orange jacket and a green hat. I was about to wave to him when I noticed Sunset Shimmer and her two not-so-friendly friends Snips and Snails coming down the hall. Thinking fast, I did a super-stealthy tactical roll behind a trash can to avoid their attention. Herm.....so that wasn't a garbage goblin like I thought. Thought Sunset as she listened to Pinkie Pie's sordid tale. Wait, if she was behind that garbage can, then that means she saw.....no, no she couldn't have. Thick beads of sweat rolled down Sunset's face as she thought of a way to escape this unfortunate situation. Once I'd gotten behind my super secret hiding spot I peeked out to see if they were gone, Thats when I saw it, snips and snails each had Greenhat-boy by one of his arms, It was like tug a war, except kinda painful looking and....actually everyone involved was probably having more fun then they would in an actual game of tug a war. "Hello Norman." Sunset said as she loomed over him like a vulture... "V-Vulture?" "Uh...did I say vulture? what I meant to say was Sunset loomed over him like a....uh....canary, yeah a canary,let's go with that. Anyways, after all the looming and dooming she moved in closer to him, smiled and put her hand on his cheek and I was thinking "Awwww, thats so sweet, maybe she's not so bad after all". And then WHAMMO! she reels back and punches him in the stomach! and I immediately end up taking back all the nice things I was thinking about her. So there he is sputtering and probably coming close to losing his lunch, or was it before lunch that this happened? no, I definatly had french class after lunch, anyways, Sunset turned to her two baddy-buddies and started bossing them around. "Give him a couple more, otherwise he might get away" They didn't look happy about being told to beat up a fellow classmate, but I guess nobody was really happy about the situation, Still, they gave him a few good...or bad from his point of view....punches before Sunset told them to ease up. "Alright, he should be tired enough, get off him already." So they let go of him, and he starts trying to walk, but he's all wobbly and shaky like whatever Granny smith has been serving as a side dish for the past week. "For the last time Pinkie,It was just vegetable Jell-O." Said applejack crossly,though her indignant rage was somewhat downplayed by Rainbow Dash's snickering. "Unnatural is what it was, I mean carrots, spinach,broccoli, what has jello done to deserve that? But we're getting sidetracked and i've been told by the school counselor that that's one of my biggiest weaknesses." Pinkie started looking over the book again to try figure out where she had left off, until she saw Sunset out of the corner of her eye, looking sullen and miserable, her eyes downcast in shame. The other girls followed Pinkie's gaze, and immediately the entire room had begun to don their own shameful expressions, as they realized how damning the story must have been for her. Setting her book aside, Pinkie walked over to Sunset and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I'm really sorry Sunset, I forgot how "uncomfortable" this story gets, I can stop now if you want." Sunset looked up at her friends, all of their faces clearly expressing regret for their prying. If she asked them to drop it now they likely would, she'd never have to hear this again, Norman had already forgiven her, she could just continue on with a fresh start, as if none of it had happened. But it had happened, and someone suffered for it. Despite what Norman said, a part of her knew it couldn't be that easy at the very least he didn't deserve to be swept under the rug like that after all he went through because of her. "It's fine, go ahead Pinkie." "Sunset, darling, just remember no matter what goes on in the story, we'll never think less of you." Said rarity, as she joined Pinkie Pie in comforting the distraught unicorn "Besides, you saved the day from a bunch of nightmare creatures at least three times already, pretty sure that cancels out anything you might have done." Added Rainbow Dash "Heh, I suppose so" "Alright then, back to the story..." Well Sunset grabbed the wibbly wobbly boy and swiped his hat, which seemed strange to me at first, I mean it wasn't even her color and I'm pretty sure she'd never been a hat person either. So she keeps waving it in his face, and just when it looks like Normy is about to get ahold of it she always pulls it away, Norman doesn't seem to happy with this, so he yells for her to give his hat back and calls her a bunch of stuff that I don't wanna repeat in polite company. She gets mad, madder then I'd ever seen her before and i'd seen her pretty mad back in those days, so that's when she gives him the meanest kick i'd seen since that chorus-line incident at band practice the other week right in the gigglebits. The entire group, including Sunset, collectively winced. Of course now he's in lots of pain and stumbling around, so then Sunny grabbed him by the jacket and pulled him towards her. Right away something smelled rotten in canterlot, first off she doesn't have that queen meanie look on her face while she was doing this, in fact for the most part she looked kinda sad, either about all the super-no-no words he'd called her or the fact that she just kicked him in the fun-parts. Plus, she held him alot closer and for alot longer than you would expect someone to hold their victim, I mean he was squirming, struggling, saying all sorts of swear words at her and she just kept on holding him and looking vaguely sorry. But after a while, her friends got bored and started asking if she's done yet,from the surprised look on her face I'm guessing she'd forgotten they were there. She gives them a big scary glare before telling them that they're free to leave if they're so impatient, which they do, probably because after asking she'd started glaring at them even harder. So then it was just her and Norman, for the most part, I thought about stepping in, buuuuut I didn't think I had a good enough explanation for why I was watching people from behind garbage cans. Eventually, after the one-sided cuddling was over she let Norman go, and by that I mean she angrily shoved him away, he on the other hand just spun around and glared at her. I'm not sure EXACTLY what happened after that, but I think Normie spat on her shoes or something. Needless to say she got kinda mad and grabbed him by the collar, then she raised her fist, like she was about to sock him one and from his flinching I think he assumed it too. Luckily she lowered her fist back down and let him go. "A nobody like you isn't worth the hassle, get back to class before I decide to tell the teachers about how you've been spending your time skipping." I tell you I'd never seen anyone as red in the face as Normie was that day, He looked so angry I thought he was gonna explode! or at least burst into flames or something. But, he didn't seem to want to get in trouble, and to be honest I don't think he could have actually taken Sunset, I mean didja see that fight with that giant jabberwopper thing? although I guess he wouldn't have seen it since it hadn't happened yet, Unless he's some kind of time traveler or something, that would explain his weird clothes actually. Speaking of weird clothes, after basically being told to just "deal with it" from Sunset he'd decided to try and grab his hat back from her, but just like before, once he started reaching for it she moved it out of his reach. "You'll get this back later, if you're a good boy." They were both really quiet for a while, Sunny was giving a slightly smug smile, while Norman looked like he was trying to glare her into a pile of ashes, eventually he walked off to class in a huff, leaving Sunny all alone. "Hold on, this doesn't sound like much of an attraction." Rainbow interrupted, loudly before shoveling a handful of chips into her mouth. The rest of the group mumbled slightly in agreement, none of them really seeing how a story of ball-kicking and hat-stealing was connected to romantic intent. Pinkie looked over to Sunset, who after mulling it over a little bit, stepped forward, towards the center of the group. "I think it's best if I finish the story, I want you girls to....understand where I was coming from." The girls each looked at each other, before nodding in confirmation, inviting her to proceed with her part of the story. "So, like Pinkie said I was left alone in the hallway, after i'd chased Norman off. Just standing around the empty hallway, eventually I decided to make my way back to my locker. It wasn't too far away, i'd actually only happened upon Norman on my way here." "I wasn't in too much of a hurry though, especially since the whole affair left a bitter taste in my mouth." Sunset's voice started to lower, as if she was trying, and failing to reconcile herself. "Look, what you guys gotta understand is, back then, I was afraid to show weakness to anyone, I'd already climbed so high, and I felt like everyone else was kind of just waiting to push me down." "On the way to my locker i'd started reflecting, I told myself it had only started as harmless fun, that he could have taken a few swings, that the kick to the groin was his fault for trying to piss me off." "Even back then I knew that was bullshit, I'd wanted an excuse to get close to him, as much as I hated to admit it I really liked him, everyone else I knew seemed to scramble to find a spot or a role or an image in canterlot high, and Norman for the most part, just seemed content to be a face in the crowd or a shoulder to lean on." "But unlike him, I needed to keep up appearances, if I was going to keep control of the school, I couldn't be seen going out with, or even being nice to someone like him. Plus, he was with that girlfriend of his, Blueberry Cake. Not that I cared, but it probably didn't help my chances with him." "It frustrated me, and I started getting angry with him, which was stupid since it wasn't even his fault, but then I guess I was pretty stupid back then." Sunset chuckled alittle bit, it was interesting how a hindsight worked, she'd spent so much time trying to forget what had happened, and yet here, looking back had already given her so much more insight into her situation. "So either way, I got to my locker, grabbed my books, looked in the mirror to check my hair all that kinda stuff, and while I'm trying to do all of this I remember I still have Normans hat." "To be perfectly honest, I've always hated the damned thing. It was puke green, ratty, and looked like something a stoner would wear. At first I'd figured I would just toss the rag in the trash and forget about it, but then I remembered it was Normans and I promised I'd give it back. But, well, that thought lead me to another thought" Sunset started to shift nervously as she recalled what she had done, the rest of the group giving her mildly concerned looks as she attempted to continue on. "Well, that's when I realized that Norman wore it almost all the time, so, it probably.....smelled like him. So I started....kinda....sniffing it." The entire room went dead silent. Pinkie Pie was quietly twiddling her thumbs near the counter, her token attempt at occupying herself so as to not say anything that might exacerbate the situation. Fluttershy was making an effort to hide within her own hair in an attempt to hide her blush while Rarity attempted to comfort her with a pat on the shoulder. A loud and uncomfortable cough broke through the silence, it's source was Applejack, who after getting everyones attention, went on to speak. "Ah gotta admit Sugarcube that seems ah might bit....." "Creepy?" Rainbow offered bluntly "Ah was gonna say Odd" Applejack responded irritably. "It's not creepy!" Sunset shouted defensively, causing both her friends to jump at the sudden outburst. "I mean....Ponies...or...."Equestrians" have a more developed sense of smell than humans, so we tend to associate people by their smells more often than not." "OHHHH What do I smell like Sunset?" Asked Pinkie Pie excitedly. "A Sugar coma" Sunset replied flatly. "So, I guess Pinkie saw yah doin....that and figured out you had a thing for the boy?" Applejack asked tentatively. "Well she was also mumbling his name while she did it, she also mentioned something about taking him on a "Pony Ride"." Near instantly Sunsets face shifted from its usual warm, yellow tinge to a bright and all too obvious shade of red. "Pinkie!!" Sunsets scolding was quickly drowned out over Rainbows outburst of laughter. "Bwhahaha, I'm sorry Sunny but that's just too rich, you must really have it for this guy." The former unicorn mulled over the question briefly. A part of her always felt cheated in not being able to even express her interest in Norman, in having to be his bully rather than his friend or better yet, maybe his partner. All this time, the past months, this week, tonight, she'd always ended up stewing over some past transgression. Maybe she did some bad things, but she pushed through it, she kept a stiff upper lip and she got over it, and maybe now....maybe now she was entitled to something nice, maybe she deserved a little chance at love after all was said and done. "I....I'd like a second chance with him, to show him how I've always felt about him, if he'll forgive me." "Well, he....already has hasn't he?" Fluttershy offered curiously "I mean, you talked to him earlier today didn't you? I just...assumed if he wanted to talk to you, he might, well, be ok with you now." Briefly, Sunset recalled the interaction, Norman did seem to forgive her at some point, but truth be told, she still felt dissatisfied with his reasoning. "Yeah, I suppose he did." "Of course he did Sunset" Rainbow chimed in as she patted Sunset on the shoulder. "Like I said you've changed, you saved the day from the Sirens, the windigo's and that nasty jabberwiki thing, you're practically a superhero by now, he probably hasn't asked you out already because he's so star struck, I know, I've had it happen to alot of guys around me." A light, giggle escaped Sunset, which didn't go completely unnoticed by Rainbow Dash despite her decision to ignore it. "You really think it'll be that easy Rainbow?" Sunset asked with mild amusement. Before the rainbow haired athlete could give a response, Pinkie Pie lept forward and responded for her. "We'll help you get your studmuffin, right girls?" "Well, um I don't think i'd discribe it quite like that, but um...." "We'd be happy to help you darling" "I dunno if ah'd be much good but I'm here for yah if yah need me" The former unicorn smiled and blushed happily all the help she'd been offer, each of her friends, with smiles on their faces and warmth in their heart, had reminded her how much life had given her already, namely some great friends that she needed to spend more time with. "Thanks girls, listen, i'm really glad you want to help, and I'm grateful. But let's not worry about that right now, I've got plenty of time for Norman and we haven't had a good get together like this in a while, tonight should be all for us." True, she was still planning to try her luck with Norman but that would be later, right now she was planning on drinking over-caffinated drinks, playing video games that would give censorship companies heart attacks, and staying up all night with her friends. With a slightly over-dramatic flourish Sunset grabbed her fairly lukewarm can of iced tea from the counter top and held it out in front of her. "Here's to us!" She said confidently, tilting the top of her can so as to indicate what she wanted them to do. "Here's to us!" They repeated happily as they tapped the tops of their own respective sodas/vegetable juices/totally-non-alchoholic ciders to hers. And with that, the sleep over started in full force, Rainbow elected to start things off with a "Brutal combat 7" tournament, which of course Applejack won despite Rainbow Dash unplugging her controller by "accident". Though Pinkie Pie claims Applejack only won because Fluttershy had forfeit. (Fluttershy of course, declined comment.) Afterwords, the night proceeded with a peculiar Board-game Pinkie Pie had somehow dug out of the cold depths of the apple families cupboard called "Betrayal at the Twin Sisters Mansion!" Wherein Rainbow Dash had managed to get her revenge on Applejack by commanding her army of superpowered serial killers to dismember Applejacks frail, slightly insane, pocket knife armed, small child character. Unfortunately Rainbow's victory was short-lived, as her armored, spear wielding warden-possessed Movie star, fell to a round of buckshot fired from Sunset's pump action shotgun, Which caused Rarity to comment that her character was almost as good at monster hunting as Sunset was in real life. Finally the night winded down to a close as the girls all came off their respective Sugar highs and showed Signs of sleepiness. Fluttershy had made the Suggestion that they watch a quiet movie together to help them all get to sleep, which all of them gladly agreed to. Rarity had suggested the film they ended up watching, it was an old black and white film that they were all honestly Surprised the apple family even owned (including Applejack herself) called "Casabronco". The film opened with a somewhat familiar scene, a lively bustling club tended by a cold and distant bartender. Sunset smirked lightly at the irony, she supposed she couldn't completely dodge her feelings for the rest of the night, the movie continued onward with tales of sinster secret police, brave freedom fighters and lost and bitter lovers even as she found her eyelids growing heavier and heavier. She gave a quick glance towards the other sleeping bags, their own occupants already showing signs of descending into sleep with their various yawns and half lidded eyes. Immediately after she gave her own yawn, indicating she too was succumbing to sleep. She would finish watching the movie later, she decided. As she settled into her sleeping bag, and let the slow piano music lull her closer and closer to dreamland, she found her thoughts drifting back to her own soft spoken bartender. I wonder what he's thinking about right now. And with that, the ember haired girl concluded her weird, wild, and wonderful day, and drifted off to sleep.
A helping hand for a normal manHand in Hand with his date, Norman walked away from the theater rather contented, albeit with his wallet somewhat lighter. "So, how did you like the movie Sunshine?" Sunset, Currently sporting the monstrous features she'd acquired during the fall formal event, gave a weak smile in response, though with her razor sharp fangs, it was hard to tell if it was a genuine smile of contentment or a predatory one. Norman chuckled nervously, slightly worried at his date flashing such sharp canines at him. Wondering silently how easily she could rend him apart with them. "Well either way, the night is still young, anything in particular you feel like doing?" The she-demon tapped a clawed finger to her chin, silently contemplating her various choices as she looked around. Eventually, her gaze settled on something, immediately giving a quick "squee" before dragging Norman over to it. The first thing Norman took note of was the warm, inviting smell of freshly cooked cinnamon rolls, Even before she stopped and let him get a good look at the sign, he already recognized the place as Sugar Cube corner, one of his competitors. "....Isn't there anywhere.....else you might wanna go Sunshine?" Truth be told, Norman didn't have a problem with the Cakes, proud owners of sugar cube corner, but he'd usually seen it as bad business practice to be seen at a competitors sweet shop. Besides that,the place had an annoying habit of making him spend far more than he'd intended to going in. But, seeing Norman's trepidation, Sunset quickly adopted a sad, "puppy eyed" expression, or at least the closest she could approximate with her pitch black eyes and tiny blue pupils. With a light sigh and a roll of his eyes Norman walked over to the double doors of the illustrious bakery and pulled one open, gesturing for his date to walk inside. With a Triumphant smirk, the demon-pony-girl marched inside, Norman dutifully following after her. For the life of him, Norman never understood the cake's choice of decor, He supposed since it was mostly a bakery the obtrusive pink decorations and pastel white walls weren't completely out of place, but considering its placement in the Pony-villa shopping centre it's "fancy and frilly" atmosphere seemed like it'd come off as too "highbrow" for it's general consumers. "HI SUNNY! HI NORMIE!" With a Sudden start Norman was shocked out of his analysis of the shop by the VERY sudden appearance of one of it's employees, Pinkie Pie. "Goddammit Pinkie! Don't scare me like that, I have enough health problems without you popping out of the ether just to give me a heart attack!" "oooh sorry Normie, I was just really excited to see you and Sunny together." Norman winced slightly at the word "together". "eh....let's not go building any rumors, Sunset and me are just hanging out, as friends, right Sunny?" Rather than answer, the young demoness instead opted to wrap one of her giant, bat-like wings around Norman, quickly pulling him closer to her for a rather uncomfortable nuzzle. To his credit, he tried not to make his horror too apparent, instead simply asking Pinkie to find them a table in a slightly shaky voice. "One table for the happy couple coming up!" Norman would have objected to being called a couple, but as it so happened, he was far more concerned with wondering how Sunset's face nuzzling against his arm could both burn him and suck all the warmth out of his body, simultaneously. Luckily they arrived at their table shortly and thus Sunset was forced to relinquish his arm in order to seat herself across from him, much to his relief. "Alright so you're going to have your usual, right Sunny?" Sunset nodded affirmatively. "Alright and for you Norman?" "A cinnamon roll, actually no,make it a dozen. Everyone back home will probably get upset if I don't bring them anything." "Okie Dokie Lokie! one chocolate strawberry milkshake and a dozen cinnamon rolls coming right up." As Pinkie left to get their orders, Sunset quietly removed her jacket and placed it over her chair, giving Norman a much better look at her figure, which he had to admit, even in demonic form, was quite lovely. It took him a few moments before he lifted his gaze from her lithe body to continue looking her in the face, and almost immediately a small amount of shame set in as he realized she'd probably noticed his staring. Luckily she didn't seem to mind, and flashed Norman another razor-toothed smile, which, feeling relieved at not offending her, he happily returned. Suddenly the familiar feeling of burning and cold were present in his hand once more, and he looked downward to see Sunset's clawed hand taking hold of his own. He wanted to jerk his hand away, wanted to tell her she was going too far and that he didn't like her that way. But looking back up at the long, toothy smile on her face, he couldn't bring himself to say it aloud. She wasn't hurting anyone, not anymore, he could stomach it for a little while longer if it made her happy. "Oh my, what a cute couple." Norman immediately felt his stomach lurch as he heard the gushing comment from an elderly couple seated next to him. A blush of hot shame washed over him, tinted with the tiniest flash of indignent anger. So he was having a nice time together with someone, it didn't obligate him to be "with" her like that. Rather firmly he pulled his hand away from her, looking away either in sustained anger or slight guilt as she adopted a confused and hurt expression. He didn't owe her anything like THAT, not after everything she did to him. And where did those two get off pinning them together just because theirs parts match up? It wasn't enough that they were looking over their shoulders to gawk at someone else having dinner they had to butt in with their vapid, stupid, ignorant- "Excuse me?" Norman looked up from his internalized rant to see Pinkie Pie, sporting a concerned look as she balanced both their orders on her metal tray. From the look on her face she had some idea of what he'd been thinking about, perhaps he'd been letting his anger show in his expressions, he'd have to be more careful about that. "Uh....right, our food, thank you pinkie" "Yeah, Your welcome" After retrieving their orders from Pinkie he looked down at his own bakers dozen box of cinnamon rolls. Silently doing the math in his head as to how many each member of his adoptive clan would get if he divided them evenly. Eventually he reasoned that he could give out two for each, including himself, before taking one and looking back up at his date, currently looking ashamed and downtrodden while silently drinking her milkshake. Of course, upon noticing his gaze she immediately smiled, but he could tell it was a hollow "don't worry about me, eveythings fine" smile. He knew she was putting on a front for him, trying not to seem too upset by his rejecting her advances. A cold wave of guilt washed over him, even if he didn't like her that way, he probably didn't need to overreact like that. Very quickly he began thinking of a way to cheer her up, one that didn't involve leading her on in any way, as that was what had gotten him into this mess in the first place. Eventually, Norman settled on his food. "Uhh....would you like, a cinnamon roll Sunset?" Without waiting for her awnser, as it was somewhat likely she'd simply decline, he inched the box a little closer to her, indicating for her to grab one. Luckily that didn't seem to be the case, as she quickly grabbed one of the many pastries and bit into it. As she chewed the lovingly made gift from the pastry gods, her mood seemed to shift slightly, her weary and phoned in smile slowly melting into one of genuine contentment and appreciation. It was well worth his cinnamon roll, he decided,as he took a moment to enjoy her rapidly improving mood. Even if he couldn't quite give her.....everything...he was still happy to share what he could with her, she deserved to be happy as much as anyone else after all. He'd almost forgotten about his own delectable pastry until its scent wafted into his nostrils. Enthusiastically, he'd decided to heed its siren call and chomping it down, completely lost in the taste of his favorite sweet. Suddenly a tall glass filled with milkshake scooted into the corner of his vision, inched forward slowly by a bright crimson claw. Looking up, Norman was greated by the expectant expression of his date. Once again, Sunset zero'd in with her pitch black and blue pupiled puppy eyes, indicating her anticipation in having Norman accept a sip of her drink. After giving a warm smile and nod of appreciation he took a small sip of the frozen treat before passing it back to her. The Demoness gave another happy "squee" before continuing to sip the chocolaty beverage herself, all the while Norman looked on, an expression of mild amusement present in his face. Afterwords, the date proceeded similarly, with the pair casually sharing food, smiles and pleasant conversation. After finishing up they asked for the check, which Norman admitted he should probably pay since he'd gotten the bigger order and drank a bit of Sunset's milkshake anyways. Of course, try as he might Norman couldn't quite slip away from the bakery without drawing the attention of its enthusiastic pink haired employee. "Bye Norman, bye Sunny! you two lovebirds have fun.....oooh....but not too much fun!" Now, for anyone else such a comment might have invited embarressment or shame, but not Norman. No it was calmly and with great pride that he'd taken his dates hand and hastily made for the exit, all the while trying to keep his face out of sight so as not to give anyone from class any ideas about his relationship status. As they exited the confectionery shop, Norman Suggested they take their night to the local park, to enjoy the midnight air and maybe walk off the sweets they'd indulged in, especially after he and sunset ended up eating the rest of the cinnamon rolls anyways despite the niggling little worry in the back of his head that his family would be disappointed in him. Sunset seemed to agree with the idea, nodding happily and once again leading Norman by the arm along the path. The trees seemed far less, pleasant than usual, their branches arched over him as if hanging their heads in shame, Norman felt the need to turn his eyes away from them, for that look of shame and disappointment was all too familiar with him. After a few moments of being tugged around and facing they judgement of trees, they eventually came upon what Sunset wanted to show him, a large marble archway covered in vines. The structure's visage quickly sent Norman's heart overflowing with dread, and for the life of him he couldn't quite pin down why. He felt, beside himself with worry, and guilt for some odd reason, swiftly he turned his attention to Sunset and felt his heart sink to even further depths as he saw her jogging merrily down the path, looking back at him one last time to flash a warm smile before vanishing into the dark. Tentatively, Norman pushed down the fearful feeling in his gut and ran after her, desperately clinging to the strangely narrow pavement walkway, as if the ground beside it was a bottomless ravine. Slowly, but all too surely, the strange and gloomy trees gave way to more familiar venues, streetlamps cast over smooth sidewalks and solid red brick and mortar walls. He'd recognized this place, for he'd walked down it many times, it was the street he'd always taken to get to his school, Canterlot High. This did little to quell his nerves. If anything, the confirmation of where they were headed only served to worsen the chill in his heart. guilt had begun to tear even more readily at his heart. He had to find Sunset, he felt it in his bones, he had to protect her from something, what it was he had no idea, but a sinking feeling in his gut told him he was responsible for it somehow. Eventually, After almost instinctively following his usual path, walking briskly past the homeless gentleman in the cardboard shack and taking a hard right just shy of Camonberry road, Norman arrived at his school's courtyard, where he spotted Sunset, standing within the looming shadow of the school statue. The marble wondercolts mascot loomed over her menacingly, it's legs reared up as if preparing to crush her to death underneath its hooves. Suddenly, as if sensing someone watching her, she turned around, and upon realizing it was Norman regarded him with a smile and a wave, completely unphased by whatever was slowly working its sinister ways on the world. beads of sweat rolled down Normans neck as he looked up and the nightmarish equine statue. "....H-Hey Sunshine, Y'know....come to think of it, the park wasn't all that it's cracked up to be, why don't I take you to....the fair? yeah? maybe the guitar store? You like guitars.....I think.." Sunset only quirked her head in response before looking back up at the marble stallion, which he could have sworn was starting to grow even larger and more threatening. "Sunset....don't do this, just....just get away from that thing. we can still talk we can still-" No sooner had he spoken then six beams of light and color rose from the sky, within each of their shining sphere's was one of six winged, pony eared girls. Each of them slowly looked down upon Sunset, Looking over her, Judging her. The demon girl looked up at them slowly, casually, Almost welcoming their presence as she watched them form up around her. Norman reached out for her, He knew this was bad, he knew that somehow...someway this would end wrong. Worse then last time, even though he couldn't remember the last time either. "Sunset please, Let's just leave....This....This isn't right, this..." "...This is what you wanted, Isn't it?" Sunset said gently, her tone sweet and helpful. The question struck Norman like the cold blade of a knife piercing into his heart, one that had found its mark perfectly, as if it had been working its way into him all night. Before he could dispute her, the six ponified figures began casting their beams of chromatic light at Sunset, each blast piercing through her body, burning through her flesh. And through it all she simply smiled, even through the tears that welled from her eyes, and even as the light that was tearing into her grew bright and hotter, Until Norman was forced to look away for fear of being blinded. Once it was safe to, He looked again, only to find a huge smoldering crater where Sunset had been. He reassured himself that it would be fine, A still very much alive Sunset shimmer would be laying there just like last time, ready to learn about friendship or some crap and everything would be fine. But When the smoke cleared away, All that met Normans eyes was a tattered leather jacket, covered in ash. He fell to his knees, tears welling up in his eyes as he stared down at it, all the while her final words ringing in his ears, rattling in his skull. "I didn't....I...I didn't..." He tried to say that he didn't want this, that he wouldn't wish this on anyone, that he'd always cared for Sunset as much as everyone else. But the words caught in his throat, he'd remembered all too well what was in his head during the fall formal. The internal guilt twisted the knife further into him, tearing up his insides and forcing the tears to flow freely even as he tried to hold them back. Meanwhile the sky had begun to fill with more than just the six winged pony girls. Immediately, as if pulled from thin air three large serpent-horse-like creatures swam through the skies, each one snapping up the pony-girls one by one in their massive jaws. Each of the six friends fought back, Zipping around the monsters and blasting at them with beams of multicolored light. Still, none of them could ward off the creatures for more than a few precious moments. Norman knew it was hopeless, He didn't particularly know why, but he knew it had something to do with Sunset, and likewise he knew whatever had happened to her was his own fault. Tentatively, he crawled over to the leather jacket, all that had been left of her after the blast. "....I...I didn't.....mean it.....I didn't mean it.....I'm so sorry Sunset." Desperate and in tears, Norman took hold of the jacket, Sobbing into it as if some shred of her spirit could still hear him. "Please don't be gone.....I was wrong.....I was horribly wrong." Suddenly, amidst the despair and sobbing, He felt the warmth of a delicate, feminine hand touching his chin. For a moment, hope swelled within him, hope that this had not been the end of her, hope that she was there, like she was meant to be. Unfortunately, that hope was dispelled as the hand lifted his chin up, bringing him face to face with it's real owner. Adagio Dazzle, whom, despite her current human appearance, he knew to be one of the creatures that had been flying through the air, chasing down each of the six pony girls.. "Yes.....you were" Immediately Adagio's teeth sharpened, her jaws stretching to fearsome, crocadilian lengths as she let out a horrifying roar. It set Normans blood cold, and held him there, lethargic and trembling as the Creature ended its human masquerade and Re-assumed its monstrous form. When the horrifying spectacle finally ended, Norman found himself face to face with the toothy maw of a fully transformed siren rapidly closing down upon him, and the horrible sickening crunch that ended it all. ........................... Cold sweat clung to Normans face as he woke from a fitful nights sleep. Attempting to stand up only rewarded him with a throbbing pain in his lower back, A quick assessment of his surroundings immediately made it clear why. As, rather then his soft, warm bed provided by his dear, loving aunt, Norman found himself waking up on a cold, hard, slightly sticky bench in his soda shop. "Urgh....that's right, those asshats at the repair company. I had to stay here all night to make sure they didn't screw everything up." He grumbled contempt-fully, recalling the ordeal he went through finding someone to fix wall after the incident with the jabberwock creature. Once they had arrived Norman had to practically follow them everywhere, just to keep them from tearing out anything important like wires or plumbing,Not to mention making sure they weren't stealing anything from the kitchen. Still, despite being insufferable bums, they did good work. If he didn't know any-better, he would have thought a giant fiery hell-beast HADN'T crashed through his wall and threatened his life, friends, and livelihood. Unfortunately, Normans personal reflection was cut short, both from the pain in his lower back as well as a fresh new throbbing that took hold in his head. With a heavy groan, Norman finally managed to lift himself out of the ruby red booth seat he'd been laying on to get himself something to dull the pain. With a few groggy strides The young manager eventually made his way over to his counter, his primary work-space when managing the day to day affairs of his soda shop. Briefly, he took a moment to steady himself once he arrived, letting his hand rest on the cold and familiar countertop he'd so often conducted business on. After a moment or two, He soon began fumbling for something underneath his counter, idly patting his hand inside the small compartment he kept underneath it, full of the little essentials he'd need in his day to day work. One of those essentials was a stark white, industrial sized bottle of pills, covered in no less then ten warning labels. With the deftness of a trained addict, Norman quickly unscrewed the top of the bottle and began pouring an amount of pills far exceeding the recommended dosage into his hand. After quickly shoving the misused medicine in his mouth and quickly chugging a small cup of water to help force it all down his throat, Norman briskly walked over towards a nearby cupboard and quietly pulled out a mug and poured himself a serving of coffee from the coffee machine, which he'd thankfully remembered to set to automatic before he'd gone to bed. "mmm....mana from heaven." Paying little heed to the scorching heat of the beverage, Norman to a deep, long sip from the coffee cup. All the while mulling over last nights events. The repairs to his shop after the jabberwocky's rampage hadn't come cheap, In fact Fronting the bill right then and there seemed pretty much Impossible without severely hamstringing the budget for the rest of the year, which would drastically cut his business if he weren't able to deliver on his usual of goods for such a long time, hell plenty of menu items would likely need to be cut altogether. He could have pulled out a loan, but he wasn't exactly keen to trade one bill for a massive web of debt he could wind up tangled up in. Ultimately Norman decided to work with monthly payments, which would hopefully at least give him time to think of something better. Though a small part of him worried about the rates going up if he missed a payment. A light sigh escaped the teen's lips as he took another sip of his coffee, silently cursing the Canterlot high statue and all of its wicked magic. Nothing good ever seemed to come from that wretched hell-portal. Well, maybe one good thing Norman thought as his mind shifted back to the former equestrian bravely standing tall against the slavering reptile monster, while he.....well, cowered behind the counter and called the police. The young manager facepalmed, partially in shame at his own cowardice, and partially in an attempt to assuage the splitting pain still present in his head. Briefly he wondered if he'd inhaled something he shouldn't have during the repairs. Well, either way, I might as well get started, lord knows If I end up having to wake up here I might as well get some more done around the place. After taking a moment to stretch, Norman set himself to work. Mostly it was little things to help get the shop ready for the day ahead, Scrubbing all the calcified grease off the grills, washing out the cups that had been stained by overuse, and Introducing any vermin that had begun taking up residence around the shop to the bottom of his shoes. All the while, Norman found his mind inevitably wandering back to last night's somewhat troubling dream. Norman didn't know much about dreams and psychology, hell most of the time his dreams were far too boring to even recall, but here, he found it hard to shake the feeling it meant something. I was with Sunset, we were on, well a date I guess... Already Norman was forced to consider some hefty implications. Did he, subconsciously at least, feel attracted to Sunset? He certainly hoped not, reformed or not fawning over someone who beat you up didn't sound like particularly healthy behavior. Although, come to think of it imagining someone being blasted to ash by rainbows wasn't the perfect picture of mental health either. A chill quickly skittered its way down Normans spine as he remembered the Dire scene. If nothing else, he knew full well where that dreadful nightmare came from. Maybe it's best I don't look into it too hard, we've already started mending bridges, Last thing I need is to worry about crazy dreams or....what happened or didn't happen at the fall formal. And with that out of his mind for the time being, Norman quickly left for the sink to take a pseudo shower. Which in this case meant taking the spray nozzle and hosing himself down, after which he grabbed some breakfast in the form of some stale chips and some possibly expired lunch meat, the most cost effective thing he could find in the kitchen. Halfway through with his scrounged together meal (and regretting it somewhat), Norman heard the light jingle of the doorbell, signaling people arriving at his shop. And sure enough as he turned his gaze over towards the doorway in stepped Trixie Lulamoon, one of his "Loyal" employees. "The great and powerful Trixie has arrived on time wage-slave, now tell your accursed kin to stop dogging her at all hours of the day!" The young manager barely managed to contain the urge to roll his eyes at Trixie's outburst, Ever since they'd hired on the budding magician/musician, He'd found himself taking the brunt of her many complaints and concerns. "Oh yeah, it's so terrible that we want you to show up for work on time, we're such taskmasters." Came the voice of Normans "adoptive" cousin Chloe as she followed behind Trixie, flanked by her brother Cherry Cola. "C'mon Chloe, she's here now, on time, cut her some slack." Commented Cherry to her sister, Clearly trying to defuse the situation. Normally Norman would consider this a commendable en-devour. But, he also knew full well that if given an inch, Trixie would likely take a mile, and then complain that it should be nautical miles rather than regular miles. "Sorry to remind you, But I'm the one calling the shots here Cherry, and slack or lack thereof will be cut at MY discretion thank you very much." Norman stated briskly, drawing the attention of everyone gathered at the shop. Cherry visibly grimaced at the Sound Normans voice, taking a moment to glare at him before turning his head away with a light huff. True, maybe he was being kind of an ass, The fact that Auntie Jubilee had chosen him over Cherry to run the shop had been a source of constant frustration in the older teen. But, at the same time, He DID have a lovely consolation prize in the form of soft, brown, well kept hair, deep bronze skin, bright white teeth and a chiseled atlas-like physic. So Norman had trouble feeling THAT bad for him. Ignoring Cherry's response, Norman continued. "Anyways, since everyone's here, we might as well get started. Cherry, you're on Kitchen duty since Bakin hasn't shown up yet, Chloe, you're waiting tables, same as always, and Trixie, you'll be helping Chloe until you get called on stage." "What!? Why am I being forced to do menial labor? Trixie was contracted to preform, not.." "Yes, contracted to preform for ONE birthday party that was unexpectedly "Crashed", legally speaking I could say "not my problem" and throw your ass back out on the street with no pay. But, I'm giving you a second shot, and the faster we get everything moving and making money the faster you can get your check and be on your way." Trixie quickly fell silent, though clearly still upset she wasn't going to put up a fight with the person signing her paycheck. Chloe, upon seeing the exchange, gave Norman a confused and slightly disappointed glance. She'd been used to seeing her cousin give curt or sometimes even surly replies on occasion, and she knew full well how he felt about Trixie, Goodness knows Chloe didn't like her either. Still, she found herself Wondering What had firmly lodged itself between Normans buttcheeks to cause him to snap at her like that. Quietly, Chloe gave a walked over to her cousin, leaning over towards him to speak in relative privacy, with a hushed yet somewhat brisk tone she quickly began interrogating him. "Alright Norm, what's the deal? I mean I know for a fact Trixie can be kind of a pain, but did you really need to bite her head off like that, or Cherry's for that matter." Norman gave his cousin a light scoff, accompanied by a quick roll of his eyes, before giving his own, not-quite-as-hushed response. "Considering I'm running a soda shop and not a three ring circus I'd say I have plenty of reason to, I'm already doing Trixie a big enough favor by paying her, even with the budget being tight right now." "Tight?" "Yeah, apparently repairing a giant hole in the wall made by a rampaging lizard is expensive, who knew? Now I've gotta worry about the possibility of mounting repairs bills on top of our usual expenses and budgets. So forgive me if I'm not completely sympathetic to someone who wants to get payed a full wage for half an hour of work." Chloe looked slightly off-put by that statement, pausing for a brief moment with downcast eyes as she mulled over how to respond. "Y'know, Mom would probably be willing to loan you some money." To his credit, Norman did consider this option for a moment or two. Auntie Jubilee did have quite a bit of spare money, and she'd probably be more than willing to put some down to keep the place in decent shape. But it wasn't long before a familiar fear came creeping into the back of his mind. What would she think of you if she found out you couldn't handle this one little soda shop yourself? What would she do when she found out you couldn't keep her pride and joy from going under? How would she feel knowing you failed her? A loud "Ding!" broke Normans train of thought,Indicating the arrival of a customer into the shop, and rather unfortunately causing his headache to flare up again. Looking up at the direction of the irritating sound. The young manager was met with the sight of a lime green teenage girl, with dark green hair, whom he Identified as Sweet leaf, One of his fellow Canterlot High Students. Rubbing His temple in a feeble attempt to soothe his splitting head pain, Norman motioned for Chloe to move along and make room for people to walk up to the counter. "We'll talk about this later Chloe, I've got customers to serve and so do you." Chloe frowned lightly, clearly unsatisfied with the answer. Still, deciding not to press the issue further she walked off. As soon as she was out of sight, Norman gave a rough sigh and shook his head, before being interrupted by a light cough, which came from Sweet leaf, currently in front of the counter and looking expectantly at him. "Uh...hey dude, are you and your sister or whatever alright? do you like need a moment?" "What? No, I'm fine Sweets, what do you want?" A look of surprise flash across the young eco-teens face as Norman called her by name. "Wait? How do you know my name? you don't look familiar.." A Sigh escaped Norman's lips as he pinched the bridge of his nose in disappointment. True, he really didn't expect her to remember that they took history class together, or that he had let her eco-teen friends organize one of their fundraisers for underprivileged wolverines at his shop, but he at least expected her to remember that he ran the damn place considering she was a regular here. "Don't worry about it, just tell me what you want, please." "Uh....alright I guess, I'll have,an apricot smoothie with chakra boost please." "Coming right up!" Norman responded as he grabbed a cup and placed it underneath the large, churning smoothie machine. Once he was certain that the cup was mostly full, he handed handed it to Sweet Leaf, making sure not to mention that they didn't have chakra boosts for their smoothies or how he was pretty sure that wasn't actually a real thing. "And, there you are, One apricot smoothie with...uh...chakra boost, that'll be two fifteen" "Cool! Thanks dude." Sweet leaf replied appreciatively, quickly handing him a five dollar bill, before taking a sip from the completely chakra-less beverage. As Norman opened up the register to place the money in and retrieve the change she was owed, he noticed the young environmentalist staring at him with a look of concentration, as if trying to solve some complex riddle. "See, I'm pretty sure I've come here before, And I don't recognize you at all, are you new or something?" "No, It's usually me up here, all the time." He grumbled softly, gritting his teeth as he attempted to count the bills and dimes. "Weird, I wonder why I can't remember you then." Sweet Leaf question aloud, scratching her chin quizzically as she attempted to recall all the various people she'd come to know, from her friends in the environmentalist club, to the one cute guy she'd always hung out with in chess club, to that one man who was always pushing around a baby carriage full of overripe potatoes. "Maybe I'm not real" Norman replied sarcastically, with roll of his eyes that clearly indicated his had no interest in having this conversation again. However, Looking back up at Sweet Leaf, the young manager had slowly begun to realize this might have been a mistake. The young Canterlot High student began to sweat bullets as her eyes darted from Norman to the Customers and employees present in the room. "N-No....that can't, I mean you must be real....Unless..." "...Unless, what exactly Sweets?" Norman asked, no small measure of concern present in his voice as he wondered if the girl he was speaking to was high on something. "It must mean you're a hallucination!" "Excuse me?" "I told my doctor I couldn't take those messed up allergy pills he prescribed me!" Alright, nevermind, obviously she has no clue what "high" even is. Norman thought dryly, passively watching Sweet Leaf hyperventilating in sheer terror. "Oh god, I'm gonna turn into an addict, just like mom warned me! I'll have to sleep in a cardboard box and beg for cash just to get b-" "I was kidding." The young manager admitted calmly, earning a look of simultaneous shock and relief from his panicking customer. "What?" "I was just making a stupid joke." "R-really? so I'm not.." "I've had alot of people come through here high, a few of them were even hallucinating, you're neither...trust me." "But then why don't I remember you?" Normans expression Soured lightly before he finally decided to respond. "Nobody does usually." "Oh.....that sounds like it sucks." Sweet leaf replied sympathetically, her gaze cast downwards. "Kinda, Anyways here's your change.." Handing the bills and coins to his slightly shaken customer. After Pulling her wallet out of her pocket and hastily stuffing the money in the young CH student began striding away, Smoothie in hand, Giving The Manager an awkward wave and equally awkward farewell as she left. "Thanks dude. catch ya later then I guess" "Probably" Norman said passively,offering his own, lazy wave back to the girl as she left. Once she was out of sight, Norman deposited the money into the register and gave a light sigh. Two dollars down, couple hundred more to go. The rest of the evening progressed similarly, with customers making their way to the bar and making their orders, some less time, some took more, some sat at the bar with their drinks and food, and others left with them. Still, Whatever tiny measure of headway he made felt insubstantial, especially in the face of the general expenses simply running the shop accrued. As He attended to one of his many customers, a familiar voice broadcast through a microphone set itself upon Normans ears. "Come one, Come all, Come and be amazed at the mystic feats of the Great and Implacable Trixie!" The young bartender shook his head in a strange cross between disbelief and amusement a smirk present across his features as he watched Trixie currently using an abandoned table as a makeshift stage as she pontificated towards the audience. Well, at least she's having fun. "Indeed, though the fates conspired against Trixie, even sending a their mightiest creature in attempt to stall her show, Trixie stands here before you Triumphant!" As she spoke, Trixie tossed a handful of flash powder onto the ground, causing a plume of green smoke to rise up and form into an admittedly rather fearsome serpentine shape. "Normally the Great and Powerful Trixie would dispose of such an interloper, but lucky for him one of....lesser skill was there to deal with him." Norman's smirk immediatly shifted into a frown, completely unimpressed by Trixie's blatant thievery of credit. Astonishing, she somehow manages to be shameful and shameless all at the same time, THAT at the very least is an amazing feat for the great and powerful Trixie. Ignoring the rolled eyes and dubious expression she received from the crowd, Trixie continued. "Indeed any creature would do well not to invoke the mighty wrath of the great and powerful-" "Sunset!" Almost as soon as the name was spoken by one of the people in the crowd, Norman's eyes snapped toward the entrance. Sure enough, there stood Sunset smiling awkwardly, the expression on her face somewhere between Appreciation and Embarrassment. "Wooo! Nice job yesterday Shimmer!" "You really showed that Jurassic park reject!" "You're REALLY hot!" Sunsets expression immediately shifted from shy appreciation to a full faced blush as she received praise and attention from every corner of the shop. Dozens of people stopped their meals to clap, cheer, and even walk up and shake hands with the former unicorn. Norman chuckled lightly as the patrons gathered around her, showering the flame-haired girl with continual praise. Good for you Sunny, you of all people certainly deserve it. The young barman thought as he dried a crystal clear mug with a rag. Happy to see that Sunset was finally getting the recognition she deserved, even if it seemed to be a little overwhelming for her. Unfortunately Trixie seemed less happy with this turn of events. "Well well well, it seems as if Someone has let their recent victories go to their head. So tell me Sunset, Do you think the fact that you took down an over-sized gecko, means you have the talent to try and upstage Trixie, The Great and Powerful?" With a flourish of her hand Trixie gestured to the spot beside her on the stage. "Well then why not join me up here and show off all your so-called "magic" in a little contest? Whoever can provide the more dazzling show of talent wins!" Sunset gave Trixie a quizzical look, as if she'd just realized she was standing on stage, before shaking her head dourly at the magician. "I don't have time for this Trixie, i'm kind of here to see someone." The former unicorn said as she cast an attentive glance towards Norman, causing him to smile and wave almost reflexively. Trixie frowned at the ex-unicorns dismissive response, clearly upset that she couldn't goad her into a contest as easily as she had hoped. However, upon seeing Sunset give the shop owner her own friendly wave in response, a smug smirk crept upon her face. "Oh I suppose I understand, after all, it would be a shame if your little friend over there saw you crash and burn." Sunset affixed the performer with a searing glare, clearly Trixie had pushed the right button that time. "You can't let her get away with saying that!" Came a voice from the crowd, joined by a chorus of affirmative murmurs, and taking a quick look around, Sunset could tell that the gathered patrons were all waiting for her to accept the challenge. Seeing no other choice, Sunset let out a frustrated groan before climbing onstage to confront the magician. "Fine, if you have your heart set on losing I suppose I'll oblige." Sunset responded, a hint of her old fierceness present in her voice as she spoke, and for a minute, Norman felt a very familiar sense of dread crawl down the back of his spine. Alright, so she can bare her teeth when she needs to, good. I'd be kinda worried if she was all sweetness all the time. Norman thought, as he observed the Trixie tossing a solid white sphere at the ground that erupted into a shower of blue fireballs, bursting in the air and raining down delicate white rose pedals. The gathered crowd shouted their obligatory "oooh's" and "ahhh's" as they witness the pedals dancing and forming shapes. "Beat that! Shimmer!" Trixie said confidently as her pyrotechnic display fired off all around her. Sunset raised a an eyebrow at the display, her expression completely neutral and unimpressed. "All flash and no substance as usual Trix" She said dismissively as she waved away some of the leftover plant matter and smoke. "I guess its kind of pretty, if nothing else. Luckily I have something a bit more....tangible up my sleeves than tricks." From out of one of the pockets of her signature biker jacket, Sunset pulled out a silver chain necklace with a sword shaped charm and wrapped it around her hand. Suddenly her fist erupted into a Turquoise flame that slowly culminated into a near-solid rod of fire, before eventually shifting into a broadsword wrapped in that same luminescent flame. All the respective patrons gasped as weapon formed, fully enthralled in its silvery shine and bright flames. With a light "Fwoosh" Sunset gave the sword a few swings and twirls, the fiery blade forming bright rings as it cut through the air. Which made Norman worry slightly, both for his customers who, while a respectable distance from where she was swinging were still huddled around her, and for his shop, which had already suffered quite a bit of magic-induced damage. Luckily the performance proceeded and ended without incident, after which the former unicorn quickly shifted the blade back into a necklace, giving a quick flourish to end on. Norman was the first to applaud, giving a lazy clap to the quick performance. Earning a Blush from the equestrian and a harsh scowl from Trixie. Still the rest of the shop seemed to agree with Norman and one by one joined him in thunderous applause. Much to Sunset's modest appreciation and Trixie's dismay. "B-But she's just swinging a sword, any meathead can do that!" However, try as she might, the magicians protests were soon drowned out by the roar of the crowd as they gave the other girl their praise and adulation. With a indignant huff, the abandoned illusionist stomped off the stage, taking pause only to give Sunset a scornful glare even as she retreated offstage. Meanwhile, Sunset set back on her way to the front desk, an ever present grin plastered across her features that only grew with each compliment and cheer she received. "Well, seems like they enjoyed your performance, Maybe you should give them an encore....wouldn't hurt business." Norman commented dryly, a measured smile ever-present on his face. "Well, you'd certainly need to make it worth my while, handsome." Sunset replied, her confidence lapsing slightly at the end as she'd gotten a better look at his haggard and rough appearance. The young manager gave a look of disbelief through his bloodshot and bleary eyes, clearly not quite buying the former equestrians compliment. "You have a strange definition of handsome." He responded, earning a look of slight embarrassment from Sunset after calling out her slip up. However, as she turned her head bashfully he began to notice something underneath her jacket. "Are those bandages?" Norman inquired tentatively, concern evident in his voice as he pointed to the small patch of white gauze over Sunset's shoulder. "Yeah, took a few hits when I was fighting the jabberwocky." Sunset explained as she attempted to pull her signature biker jacket tighter to hide the bandage in question. A fresh wave of guilt washed over him as he thought about the injuries one must sustain fighting unknowable creatures from beyond this universe.Suddenly his head and back aching didn't seem like that big of a problem anymore. "Sounds rough, sorry to hear that Sunshine." "It's alright, Someone had to step in, might as well have been me." "I guess" Norman murmured casually, a little off-put by the idea that these were the kind of scars she brought home every day. "It's strange though, all those times you clashed with magic and stuff I never really considered the physical danger of it, I mean besides all the magical cancer you guys probably contracted." At that Sunset gave the young man a look of utter confusion. "Norman, magic doesn't cause cancer." The manager gave an amused snort. "Sunset, everything gives you cancer" "The sun, cancer." He said, pointing out a window,through which, bright sunlight was pouring in. "These florescent lights, cancer." Again he pointed up at the lighting set above the counter, prompting Sunset to try and move out from under them. "And this Soda." He added as he pulled a can of Colta-Cola out from a nearby icebox and took a sip. "Liquid Cancer, you couldn't possibly tell me that Volatile blasts of rainbow energy and wild mutation AREN'T going to do something nasty to your cells." Sunset rolled her eyes dismissively as she watch him gulp down most of the can in a near instant. Letting a smile tease itself across her features. "Soo, you think maybe you might have some free time to go hang out today?" A sharp, sputtering cough escaped Normans throat in mid-sip of his soda. Sunset moved to aid him, but Norman raised up a hand, indicating he was fine. After a few quick coughs and jabs at his chest he managed to clear his windpipe. "Dunno about that today Sunshine." Norman said nervously, only just now remembering how he'd agreed to hang out with her, and unfortunately realizing that in his current financial straits he'd have to cancel on that in favor of trying to dig himself out of debt. Sunset frowned slightly at his response, but managed to brighten up quickly enough. "Well that's fine, what time works for you then?" He turned his gaze aside. "I Don't know, I'm gonna be busy for quite some time." Admitted the young manager regretfully, trying to make it clear he wasn't happy to admit this. Sunset seemed to pick up on this, but she looked unhappy nonetheless. "Oh, I guess that's...." She paused to give a long sigh. "....Are you sure you can't, I don't know, move something around?" "It's not like I have a bushiness lunch to go to, I just need to put in more hours is all." "Why's that?" In response, Norman gestured to the newly refurbished wall. "Had to get the wall repaired after notzilla wrecked through it." "Oh, well maybe I can help then." Sunset said hopefully. Norman shook his head passively in response. "I can't pay you,the only reason I'm paying Trixie is because I still owe her from yesterday." "I don't need money Norman, I just wanna help." "I wouldn't wanna drag you into my problems Sunshine, I can handle this myself." She gave an angry frown, clearly starting to get more than a little annoyed at Normans stubbornness. "You're not dragging me into your problems Norman, we're supposed to be friends. Friends help each other out, or defeat monsters together, either of those really." "You've only been my "friend" for about two days, Shimmer. That doesn't give you the right to butt into my business whenever you feel like it." Norman replied testily, his simmering frustration clear in his bloodshot eyes, wondering why she was so insistent on this point when he was being quite clear that he didn't want help. "You don't have to be an asshole about it." Sunset grumbled back, arms folded and head turned away in reaction to Normans briskness. A scoff came from the other side of the counter as the manager regarded her bluntly. "Yeah, you would know all about that wouldn't you-" His catty comment was interrupted near instantly by a pair of yellow hands gripping his collar and pulling him forward. "What!?" Shouted the former unicorn, as she yanked him forward to meet her bleary gaze. A fresh wave of panic crashed over Norman, as old memories of his old encounters with Sunset flooded through his mind, temporarily overriding his rational thought and replacing it with instinctual terror. It only lasted a second however, as near instantly Sunset seemed to pick up on his panic and quickly let go of the boys collar and cast an apologetic look downward. "Sorry.." "Yeah, me too.." A quick look at Sunset showed pretty clearly that she was no better off than he was, she seemed tired, probably a little woozy from the cuts and bruises she'd be healing from, Norman mentally kicked himself for not being more perceptive and trying harder to hold his tongue. Neither of them had been in a proper state of mind when they'd started this conversation, but similarly neither of them were in a hurry to continue for fear of saying something else to offend each other. After some time, Sunset ventured a small, offhand comment towards the young manager. "Your jacket is really soft, one of Rarity's designs I presume?" Norman gave a quick smile, relieved that he wasn't the one who had to initiate conversation, before slowly shaking his head. "Naw, Suri Polomare, mmmkay" he said confidently, adding his ham-fisted impression of Suri's distinctive accent at the end. Which drew a petite smile and giggle from the former equestrian. Something about her laugh made his own smile grow wider, and for a moment a memory of his earlier dream shifted into his mind, drawing the parallels of fear and adoration he felt there. Before he could think further on this however, he was interrupted by the feeling of a hand upon his own. Ignoring his first instinct to jerk his hand away from whoever was touching it, he looked up curiously at the girl in front of him. "Norman, please, let me help you. I can tell it's really frustrating you and the fact that your not letting me help you is frustrating me." Norman considered the offer. He really wasn't helping anyone by refusing, Sunset obviously wasn't going to take no for an answer, and truth be told he wasn't sure why he felt the need to do this himself. But soon enough, a familiar feeling churned in the pit of his stomach. The same feeling of shame, self doubt and the odd tingle of loneliness he felt when Chloe had suggested he ask his Aunt for her help. However, a quick glance into Sunset's deeply sympathetic gaze, reminded him that like it or not, he wasn't alone in this. "Alright, Alright, you win Sunshine, maybe I am being a bit of an asshole.." "Yup" Sunset agreed quickly. "...and maybe I do need help." The former unicorn grinned widely in response, happy that her friend had finally decided to take her advice and accept her aid. "Great , come with me, I think I have something that might help at home." Without waiting for his answer, Sunset quickly grabbed Norman by the wrist and pulled him along, dragging him from his counter and out through the door. "Uhhh, Sunset?" Norman questioned as he was dragged outside by the eager unicorn. His feet barely able to keep up with their movement as she quickly lead him over to a very well maintained Harley Stallionson motorcycle. "Hey, where do you think you're taking my cousin?" "Norman, are you seriously blowing us off to go slink off with some harlot? I thought you said you were done with that kinda stuff!" Out of the corner of his eye, Norman saw his two adoptive family members, Chloe and Cherry making their way out of the shop in pursuit, both of them harboring upset looks, though Chloe's was aimed at Sunset while Cherry's was aimed directly at him. "Well, y'see I..." "He was just about to join me, to discuss finances. I don't want to give away too much, but I think you'll be happy to know Norman has convinced me to help you all out with the budget." Sunset responded happily, causing Norman to affix her with a confused stare as he tried to imagine what kind of financial help one barely grown woman could provide. Still, He HAD agreed to let her help, and if nothing else he'd always prided himself on keeping his agreements. "It's alright guys, Sunset said she wants to help, so I'm letting her." The two looked unconvinced, but decided not to press the issue thankfully, and after asking Cherry to run the counter since Bakin Bitz had arrived earlier to relieve him of kitchen duty (a task he was glad to preform Norman was sure.) He was left free to join Sunset atop the motorcycle. To his surprise, the leather seating was comfortable, though it left precious little room between himself and the former unicorn, which was...worrisome for the young manager. "You might wanna hold on to something back there." Sunset said, as she began adjusting her light purple motorcycle helmet. Unfortunately, Norman saw precious little to hold onto aside from Sunset herself, and as such opted to leave his hands where they were. Suddenly, the engine roared to life and gave a thunderous rumble, and with a slightly shrill yelp and a jump, Norman quickly grabbed onto the former unicorns waist. The young bartender blushed deeply at the touch, but was still far too terrified of the roaring machine to let go. Which, truth be told, suited the former equestrian just fine as she sped off towards her home, the sweetest of smiles forming beneath her helmet. Author's Note This chapter, HOLY CRUD this chapter!! This was a long chapter that STILL really shouldn't have taken this long, It's a shame to admit but I think too many "I can work on it tomarrow's" really kept this thing in limbo for a long, long time. Anyways, talking about the actual chapter there is a lot I want to say. It was fun to get away from Sunset's "rose tinted glasses" perspective on this and get a look at her crush in his weakest point. Though it unfortunately starts with another dream sequence, hopefully I'll steer away from those for a while. Also apologies to all Trixie fans, I realize she can be an awesome character if used correctly, But I'm going to concede I might not be using her correctly, sorry! P.S: So honest opinions from all of you reading this fic, Do you think I've been making sunset too snippy? I've tried to present both her and Norman as "worn down" in this case, but since this is the second (or third time if you count her minor lashing out at the slumber party) I've had her give an extreme reaction to something.
Netflix and thrillsThe ride had been mostly quiet, Between Norman's Silent discomfort and Sunsets restrained glee the two had been able to keep themselves occupied for most of the trip. A few times Norman considered asking Sunset to slow down, but thought better of it, she probably wouldn't have heard him over the roar of the engine and honestly he wasn't quite sure slowing down would make the ride any less terrifying. He hoped he wouldn't have to drive back here himself again, aside from a few brief glimpses of some smaller landmarks, including a sign that indicated they had entered into a gated community, Norman had little baring on where he currently was. Most likely that was because he had taken to burying his face in the back of Sunset's jacket in a desperate attempt to look away from the rapidly moving scenery and pretend he was anywhere else, desperately trying not to retch at the smell of leather mixed with Sunset's overwhelming perfume. Still, eventually the vehicle slowed as they pulled up in front of a rather impressive house. Not quite a mansion per say, but certainly a rather lovely two story building, complete with a stone pathway leading up to it and a quaint little patio overlooking the lawn. The windows were each draped in expensive looking purple curtains that Norman could see even from outside the house. Norman gawked at the not-so-humble abode, completely caught off guard by it's stature. "What's the matter Norman?" Sunset asked tentatively, bringing his attention back to reality, and the fact that he currently had his arms wrapped around her. Quickly he removed his hands from her waist, not wanting to further compound his already confusing and guilty feelings by keeping his hands on her. "Well, I guess I didn't expect your house to be quite, like this." "What did you expect?" Norman paused a moment to consider the question. To be fairly honest he wasn't sure what he expected, whenever he'd stopped to think about how Sunset might live he usually assumed she lived in fairly humble means, considering she was essentially an orphan in this world. "Well, nobody's ever talked about visiting your home, I guess I assumed you didn't have one." "Yeah well, you know what they say about assumptions and what they make out of people." Sunset said, setting down the bikes kickstand and dismounting the vehicle, After which she walked down the path towards the House, followed closely by Norman. Upon entering, The first thing that stood out to Norman was the expansiveness of the entryway, how vast and almost intimidating it seemed, even after seeing it from the outside. Briefly Norman wondered if she had used some kind of spell to manipulate the law of conservation of mass and create a house that was larger inside than it was outside, but it quickly dawned on him that it more likely it just made good use of vertical space. Aside from being spacious and well built, Sunset's house seemed to be beautifully decorated with eclectic bits and bobbles she had collected, most prominent of which was a small brass sculpture hung on the wall in the shape of a blazing sun. All in All, Norman was pretty sure the house and all its contents were worth far more than he would ever see in his lifetime. Meanwhile it was clear from her smug expression that Sunset was enjoying his awestruck expression as he gawked at her home. "I take it you're impressed?" "You're never getting another free sandwich out of me ever again." Norman replied curtly, Trying his damnedest not to sound TOO impressed. "We'll see" Sunset said in a Singsong voice. "So, if I asked how you could afford all this stuff would the answer mentally scar me for life?" In response to his question, Norman received a disapproving pout from the former unicorn, as well as sharp slap across the head which nearly swept off his hat. "If you really want to know, I took a big stash of valuables with me when I left Equestria." "What, did you rob a queen or something?" "Might as well have." Sunset mumbled sadly. Norman looked up from a small statue of a horse he was examining and gave sunset a concerned glance. "Most of the stuff I got were gifts from my mentor, Princess Celestia, stipends, presents, all things she gave me out of the kindness of her heart when I had been her student." "And that got you all this?" "Well, precious minerals are apparently a lot more rare and a LOT more valuable here. I mean, our main form of currency is solid gold, and gems are common enough to be made into dresses and baked goods." "Baked goods?" Norman repeated, dumbfounded. "Wouldn't it be more honest to just round up all the poor people in your world and start burning money in front of their faces?" "Considering the giant middle fingers to the heavens you humans build and conduct business in I don't think you have any right to judge." Sunset responded, smirking with amusement. "Point taken." Norman conceded as he cast his eyes away in slight embarrassment. Unfortunately before he could continue, he was interrupted by a massive, earth-shattering bark. Quickly his eyes began to dart around, searching for whatever dire creature emitted such a sound. "Garble!" Sunset Squeeled Happily from the foot of the stairway, running to embrace some red and yellow blob that was descending the staircase. Upon closer inspection it appeared to be a dog, or at least some mangy, red and yellow eldritch horror that closely resembled one. "How are you doing today Handsome?" She cooed softly as she knelt down and scratched the dog-monster just underneath its chin. The beast gave what could only be described as an appreciative gargle, bearing its jagged and razor-sharp teeth into a rough approximation of a smile before licking Sunset's hand. Giggling at the sloppy show of affection, She turned towards Norman, causing the massive creature to do the same. "I'd like you to meet my dog, Garble. Say hi Garble!" Without missing a beat "Garble" leveled a festering glare at Norman, growling fiercely as it sized him up. "He's....cute" Norman said insincerely as he put on a forced smile. Garble snarled viciously at him, apparently able to smell his blatant bullshit as clearly as the vibrant cologne that soaked his shirt. Upon seeing the exchange, Sunset moved between the two. Hastily attempting to assuage Norman's growing concern. "Oh, don't mind him, he's just a little grumpy after I was gone for so long. Luckily Miss Tenderheart was willing to watch him for me while I was away ." In response Garble burped up a small patch of floral print cloth. Sunset's eyes widened as she recognized the patterns and slowly she began walking towards the front door. "Uhhh, I gotta go check something, hold tight here OK Norman?" Cautiously, Norman cast a glance over to Sunset's dog, which was now slowly stalking towards him with a murderous gleam in its eyes. "Well actually.." "Awesome, I'll be right back." Sunset said happily as she hurried out the door. Leaving him with the beast, it's hulking frame slowly creeping towards him. "Steady....uh....Garble" Norman said nervously, slowly backing away from the massive creature as it stalked towards him,it's jagged teeth dripping with drool. The beast woofed loudly, clearly not placated in the slightest and now looking to the frightened teen as if he were a particularly cowardly bag of kibble. After it became clear that no obvious escape route's were in sight, or at least none that he felt assured wouldn't simply give the creature a free bite at him, Norman cast his gaze skyward, deciding that in this instance, perhaps an appeal was in order. "Please lord, if you get me out of this I promise never to spit in another snobby customers drink ever again." Garble simply stepped forward and growled in response. Causing him to panic further, desperately reaching for some other bargaining token. "Or loosen the lid on their coffee cups so they spill hot coffee on themselves." He added hastily. Sunset groaned miserably as she set on the path back home from her neighbors house. Wondering all the way back how such an tiny old lady could yell so loud. Sunset made a mental note to never piss off Miss Tenderheart again. Not that she would likely be talking to her again for a while. The nerve she had, calling her dog an "Unholy abomination against god and man" Sure, Garble was a little rough around the edges, and sure he might have tried to eat Miss Tenderhearts leg, but that was just him....adjusting. That being said, she made it a point to not waste any time getting home, Suddenly far less confident in the decision to leave Norman with her dog. It'll be fine, I'm sure Norman is perfectly safe, it's not like I've been gone that long. Slowly, as if fearing what she might see behind it, she pushed opened the front door. "Norman? Garble? you there? and uneaten?" She didn't really know what she expected as far as a reply, but she had hoped to get at least some confirmation against the worst. However, as she entered the living room the first thing that met her ears, was not a the bark of a dog, or cries for help from her guest, but rather, what sounded like a list of apologies "..And I'll never take a dead rat from out back and sneak it into the meal of someone I don't like, Or cut costs by serving expired....oh, hey Sunny." Sure enough, there stood Norman, perfectly safe and casually leaned against a wall, greeting Sunset cheerfully, as if some great burden had just recently been lifted from his shoulders. "Uh, hey Norman, you OK? Garble wasn't any trouble was he?" The young manager blinked a few times, having just remembered the massive dog that had been threatening him. "What? Oh, no not really, in fact he's been pretty quiet" Out of the corner of her eye, the former unicorn spotted her dog who sported a thousand yard stare after having been privy to the depths a human being could sink after three or four odd years in the fast food industry. "Uhhh....good to hear." Sunset said cautiously as she called garble to heel and took a seat on a nearby couch, treating him to a light scratch behind the ear to relax him. "Mind If I take a seat?" Norman asked, pointing to the empty spot next to her. She nodded and let him take his seat, doing her best to hide the tiny smile she couldn't help but pull. "So How did it go with that thing you needed to attend to?" He continued taking seat next to her on the couch. Sunset sighed audibly, the disappointment and rejection still fresh in her mind. "It was exhausting. To think Mrs. Tenderheart would have the nerve to call poor Garble an abomination" Norman raised an eyebrow at her response. "Why exactly did she call him that?" "Well, he did try to chew up her leg a little." "How do you chew up someones leg "a little?" She looked down at her dog, her resolve slowly dying down as she saw him continuing to chew on the floral print fabric. "It's all my fault." She said guiltily, as she reached down and scratched her canine companion behind the ears. " I should have known better than to leave him with her, or with you, he's obviously not ready to be around other people." "Maybe, but y'know the only way to really be ready is experience." Norman Suggested with a shrug, Sunset merely continued looking downcast at her dog. "I'll tell you what, Why don't you Have me watch Garble next time? if today is any indication I'd say I'm pretty good with him already." She lifted up gaze to look at Norman for a moment, there was trepidation in his face as he offered, but he looked like he was at least relatively confident in his offer. And she really did need someone to watch garble for her while she was fighting abominations. "Well, that'd certainly help if you think you can manage it." "If I couldn't "Manage" I'd be in the wrong profession, wouldn't I Sunshine?" He replied happily, his signature "Almost smile" present on his lips. Sunset felt her eyes roll almost of their own volition at Normans typically cheesy line, though she did return his half-smile at least. Quickly she grabbed the remote off a nearby coffee table and clicked on the TV, happy to settle in and relax after a long day. "Well, you are coming to me for financial help aren't you." She answer back with faintest hint of smugness. That struck him silent, prompting Sunset to look away from the fantasy/sci fi b-movie she'd put on to glance at him. He looked away, not quite in shame or depression, but with a degree of hard contemplation present in his expression, perhaps rethinking his decision. The trepidation he seemed to feel at the shop in accepting her help hadn't completely gone away it looked like. Whatever Smugness Sunset had felt faded as she attempted to rectify the situation. "Hey it's fine, lucky for you I have a soft spot for roguishly handsome bartenders." She said in her best attempt at a "sultry" voice. "Roguishly handsome?" Norman replied with amusement, his gaze lifted slightly from the floor by the compliment. "That's certainly a new one." That sentence piqued Sunset interest Immediately, Suddenly her movie seemed far less interesting now in comparison to whatever juicy secrets she could glean about her crush. "What are some of the old ones?" She asked as she scooted closer to Norman taking the opportunity to get a discreet whiff of his cologne, a musky, rich and somewhat oaky mixture that blended rather well with his own natural scent in her opinion. Silently she wondered if she could get away with stealing his hat again. She was quickly snapped out of her thoughts when Norman spoke up. "Well Normy for one, Pretty boy was another, but most boys in Canterlot high get that one, there was that one older woman who insisted on calling me slugger, it was really awkward." Sunset raised an eyebrow, she'd always thought of Norman as attractive, but she always felt her particular interest in him was just her preference. At the very least whenever the subject of "boys" came up in conversation among her friends his name never seemed to appear. She continued to scoot closer to him, a slightly possessive mood overtaking her as she responded. "Sounds like you're popular." A dry Chuckle from the boy next to her indicated her initial disbelief wasn't unfounded. "Hardly, persistent more like, been trying to find that special someone ever since Blue and I parted ways." That answer was far more likely and appealing to Sunset, if Norman was already on looking for love then it likely wouldn't be too hard for her to ask him out. "So, how's that been going so far?" "So far, I've decided to step out of the dating game." A look somewhere between shock and disappointment graced the former unicorns features as she heard his answer. "What? really?" Norman nodded, wistfulness clear in his expression and voice as he continued. "I'm tired of being a one night stand Sunshine, I've been around the block looking for love and I've got no interest in going around again." Sunset's disappointment quickly soured into full-on bitterness at that news, she knew it'd be far harder to get him to return her feelings now, at the very least she wouldn't be able to directly ask him out now. And worst of all, every other girl in Canterlot and their mother apparently got a shot with him beforehand. This isn't fair, I saw him first, I should have gotten to him sooner. "Well I know a few women that are gonna be dissapointed to hear that." "They'll forget about it eventually....they always forget." Bitterness and self doubt were clear in Normans voice as he spoke, which Sunset recognized immediately, After seeing it in his exchange with Barry Punch at his soda shop. It occurred to Sunset that most of his break-ups probably weren't voluntary, after all, it was pretty easy to be heartbroken when you seem impossible to notice. But then something else occurred to her, a tiny and admittedly amusing fact. Slowly she placed a supportive hand on Norman's hunched shoulder. "I never did." She said fondly. Norman stared at her for a few seconds, the wheels in his head slowly turning, for a minute she worried if she'd made a mistake and he might be angry about her bringing up her time bullying him so lightly. But thankfully he seemed to appreciate the humor of the situation and gave a small chuckle in response. "I suppose not. Whatever else you did you didn't forget. Even when I kinda wished you did." "If it makes you feel any better you were always my favorite." She added playfully. "It doesn't but thanks anyways." Sunset let out a light giggle at his dry response before turning back to the movie. Apparently the President's son, who was a soldier in the a-mare-ican military had fallen in love with an alien of some kind, at least she thought it was, to her it just looked like an actress in blue body-paint. However before she could think about the idiotic implications of a race of aliens defined by color in a world where everyone was multicolored, Norman spoke up again. "So, Sunshine..." "Yeah" Norman paused for a minute and bit his lower lip, likely indicating he was debating wether or not to ask something. "How are things on your end as far as dating goes? I haven't really seen you with anyone besides Flash "did I mention I have a band" Sentry." Norman questioned, adding small air quotations on towards the end. The comment took Sunset slightly off guard, she wasn't exactly expecting this question. Truth be told she had fooled around a little before flash, looking for a guy to latch onto to boost her standing mostly. But unfortunately Afterwords it became pretty clear to everyone who she was, and even after the fall formal and the battle of the bands most guys still tended to keep a "look but don't touch" policy with her. Before she could respond Norman shook his head and cursed under his breath. "Sorry Sunshine, I don't know what I was thinking, asking something personal like that.....just forget it." "N-no, it's alright, it's just my love life has been kinda boring so far. I mean even when I was with flash we never even really made out or anything." That wasn't entirely true of course, She had on occasion enjoyed some brief lip-locks with her ex-boyfriend, sometimes it was as extra incentive to make sure he'd do something for her, other times it was for her own enjoyment. Regardless, a little white lie did nothing to hurt him, and if she was lucky he might be more inclined to be with her if he thought he was her first. She turned softly, bringing out her best Innocent-doe-eyed expression. "Truth be told, I've never even kissed a boy." "Oh believe me Sunshine, it's not all it's cracked up to be." Sunset blinked at the younger man's casual response, spending a few moments trying to mull over the implications of that sentence. "H-how would you know that." "I ran into a guy who told me had a crush on me, I figured I shouldn't turn him down if I didn't know for sure, so I gave it a shot." Sunset knew for a fact her face was as red as a fresh sweet-apple-achers apple, even without the burning sensation flaring up in her face. Luckily it was far less obvious to Norman, who casually continued his story, much to Sunset dismay and excitement. "I gotta tell you, I gave it my all and sure there was a little bit of a naughty thrill to it but at the end of the da-" The words slowly stopped registering properly in Sunsets mind, Instead giving way to vivid daydreams of her crush engaging in all manner of make-out sessions with some equally attractive mystery man. Unfortunately her fantasies were rather rudely interrupted by the genuine article. "Anyways the point is you're not missing much Sunshine. Trust me we're both better off single." "Y-Yeah, here's to the singles life" This is so unfair. She thought ruefully, now regretting her lack of haste in approaching him earlier even more. Garble, who had been sat next to the coach, once again adopted the horrified thousand yard stare. Completely oblivious to these thoughts, Norman simply glanced towards the TV, clearly struggling to make out what was going on on-screen. "Sooo....you have any idea what's happening here? cause I'm lost." "Ugh...no clue, they're trying to figure out how to stop the alien menace...or get to second base with them? I don't know I wasn't paying attention." She answered back, waving the question off in disinterest. "So, why'd you put it on then?" Sunset shrugged, the honest answer was she had wanted something on in the background to glance at while she relaxed and enjoyed his company. But she didn't really feel like explaining all that to Norman. "I've heard good things about it?" The dubious expression he fixed upon her indicated he didn't quite believe her. "Hush you." She said in mock indignation, jabbing him lightly in the arm, and causing him to smirk slightly at her overplayed reaction. "I didn't major in conjuration at Celestia's school for gifted unicorns, to be talked to like this, Mister." "A major in conjuration? Impressive......I think." Sunset huffed lightly in response, her anger shifting from playful to genuine soon after thinking about her time at celestia's school for gifted unicorns. "It damn well better be, It was probably one of the worst experiences of my life." She said bitterly, recalling a particularly harrowing experience where some particularly nasty teachers threatened to send rule-breakers to detention in tartarus. "You wanna, y'know, talk about it?" He asked casually, in that same detached and yet somewhat empathetic voice he'd usually address his customers with. She cast a sideways glance at him, she'd never really talked about her time as a student at Celestia's school for gifted unicorns with anyone, between her friends who wouldn't likely understand, and twilight who would probably rather gush about everything she learned there, she didn't really have anyone to really rant to on the subject. But half of Normans job was listening to people rant about their problems, no matter how little sense they made. "Alright, just hang on a minute, let me go grab a drink." "Not to worry Sunshine, I gotcha covered" He replied confidently, as he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small flask. She eyed the object warily, being perfectly within the legal drinking age Sunset was able to have alcohol in her possession, Norman however, was only nineteen and the fact that he had a flask of booze on him at all times was....worrying. The old her would have used it as blackmail, maybe as a way to wrap him around her finger. The new her however, simply had to settle for not liking it. Still, finding no real reason to turn down free booze, she took a swig from the flask, letting the bitter taste and light burn of the beverage run its course before beginning her rant. "So first of all Conjuration is kind of an offshoot of teleportation, more or less involving porting items from different planes of existence. Now this could mean anything, object, resources, energy, and of course living beings." Norman nodded at her explanation, though she wondered if that was because he really understood it, or was simply humoring her, regardless she continued, more for the sake of getting it off her chest than for anyone to hear it. "So you've gotta make sure your coordinates are right and since you can't just eyeball it you're pretty much forced to minor in divination, and that's a whole different can of worms." Countless hours spent at a crystal ball, searching for a specific plane, for specific coordinates, for a specific plant that grew in a specific grove, only for her to fail the assignment for drawing in "Unnecessary matter" through the spell in the form of a few blades of grass . When executing her Original plan of mutating the Canterlot high students into bloodthirsty monsters and invading Equestria, the first target on her very long shit-list would have been the asshat divination professor who gave her that hateful assignment. "And there were no other Students or teachers that were worth sitting through it to see?" Norman asked tentatively, he didn't seem to confident in his question, most likely he was simply teasing out the answer he already suspected. "Nope, Funny thing about studying an arcane science associated with summoning demons and monsters, Anyone who majors in it is gonna be either a bitch or a megabitch." "So, if you hated it so much, why'd you put yourself through it?" Sunset sighed sadly, recalling two of the many people she was glad to leave behind in Equestria. "Because my parents made it pretty clear that's what I would be studying. If nothing else, tapping into other planes of existence is an easy way to show you have power." "And lemme guess, showing off is exactly what mommy and daddy dearest wanted out of her award winning daughter?" Norman said knowingly, Prompting her to look up at him in surprise, before nodding in agreement and looking away. "Yup, Prettymuch. About the only time they ever wanted anything to do with me was when they were parading me around in front of her socialite friends." With a light sigh she opened up the flask and took another swig from it, silently wishing she had something a little stronger. A moment after, Normans open palm made its way into the corner of her vision, prompting her to glance over and see him with a pleasant, but still somewhat "expectant" look aimed towards her. Immediately she realized he wanted a drink, again, despite being under the legal drinking age. She cast her gaze from him to the flask at her hand before downing it all in one single gulp and handing it back to him. "Oops, Sorry." She gave a sweet, slightly inebriated smile at him before handing it back. "Classy.." He replied with a slight grimace as he took the now empty flask. She stuck her tongue out at him playfully. True he might be mad now, but she'd rather him be a little cross with her than have to watch him intoxicate himself in front of her. After trying in vain to tease out a single drop from the empty container he sighed and shook his head in defeat. "Just as well I suppose, Auntie Jubilee would want me back in time for dinner soon and I'd rather not have to explain to her why I'm out late with booze on my breath." "Just tell her you were out with a woman who rides motorcycles and wears leather." Sunset teased, quickly throwing on her black leather jacket, and turning off the nonsensical alien movie. "Anyways, It is getting kinda late, how about I drive you home." "How about you stay here and don't get arrested for D.W.I." Norman said, waving the empty flask towards her. She winced slightly and nodded. "It'll be fine, I can take a cab from here...." "Fair enough I suppose, Maybe we could get together again like this another time?" Sunset asked hopefully, trying her best not to sound desperate. "Sure thing, Sunny. Just… try and keep the pony magic to a minimum when I’m around, could you? That rainbow shit can’t possibly be good for my health." She scoffed and cuffed him lightly on the shoulder. "I'll keep that in mind the next time you need a rescue from some slavering monster, smart guy." He simply gave her his usual half-smile before walking towards the door. "See you soon Sunshine." "Yeah....you too." Sighing Dreamily, she leaned onto a nearby wall, already she'd managed to get her crush back to her house. That was more than most people got out of their first date, that's for certain. And to think, all this started out so terribl- Suddenly realization struck Sunset, quickly she ran over to the doorway after Norman. "WAAAIT!" She shouted through the doorway. Immediately Norman froze on the spot, cautiously turning on his heel to look back at her. Nodding to him, she rushed back inside and ran through the beautifully furnished living room, eventually making her way to a beautifully crafted jewelry box, sitting atop a table. Hastily she flipped it open and rummaged through it, occasionally pulling out amethyst's, sapphires, and rubies of various sizes, before eventually settling on a bright blue topaz. Alright, this should about cover it She thought to herself as she hurried back to the door, covertly placing the gem in her pocket. Norman Still stood just outside the door, though considerably less stiffly than she after she'd yelled for him. "So....I just remembered, I didn't give you the help you came here for." She admitted bashfully. He looked as if he was about to respond, before a look of realization overtook him. "Oh yeah, I guess I forgot." "Having too much fun?" She asked, a noticeable cat-like smirk appearing on her face. "Maybe." He admitted coyly, apparently not quite willing to admit to it fully. "Well either way, I have a feeling this might help out." She said confidently as she pulled the bright, shining, blue topaz from her coat pocket. Turning it over subtly in her hand to show off the fine cut and caret of it. "All the way from Equestria. And if my guess is correct its going price should be just enough to cover your repair bill." As she spoke, she looked over at Norman expectantly surprised he hadn't responded. To her surprise however, rather than a smart remark or a cool and collected smirk, all she received from him was a rather dumbfounded stare. Eventually he stuttered out a rather worried response. "I-I....Sunset, you can't be serious! I can't take this." She frowned, slightly frustrated at his stubbornness after she insisted on letting her help him. "Well too bad cause I'm giving it to you." She said insistently, grabbing his hand and forcing the gem into his palm. Normally she would respect someones desire to refuse her help, but this time it felt, important to her. She wanted him to accept it, She NEEDED him to accept it. Unfortunatly Norman seemed, unsure about her offering, almost frightened by it. "I-I won't be able to pay you back for this Sunset, It wouldn't feel right." He sputtered nervously, desperately trying to palm the gem back to her. Gently, she grabbed his open palm, and closed it back up. "You don't have to pay me back Norman, it's a gift." Finally relenting, Norman pulled his hand back, opening his palm to once again look at the large, bright blue gemstone in all it's glory. He seemed enraptured by it, It occurred to Sunset that he might never have seen this much money in his entire life, she wondered briefly if she should tell him how these gems grew all over equestria and how often they were used as simple gifts and rewards between friends. Before she could decide however, he spoke up again. "Why are you really giving this to me?" He asked in a sober tone, all traces of his smarmy sarcastic tone seemed to have dissolved away as he presented the question in his most straightforward voice. "Excuse me?" "I don't mean to look a gift horse in the mouth, but this really doesn't seem like the kinda thing you give to someone who you've only been friends with for a couple days, Why would you give this to me?" She could have just admitted to it right then and there, come out and told him how she felt, especially now after giving him such an apparently appreciated gift, She get her perfect high school fairy-tail ending, all she had to do was just reach out and grab it. But what if he refused? What if even after her gift he still wasn't able to return her feelings? or worse if he turned down the gem entirely. After so many times hearing it from both the other students during the battle of the bands as well as her own friends during the windigo incident , she didn't think she could take that kind of rejection again, not from him. "I...think you're a good guy." "T-That's it?" He asked incredulously, almost disappointed. Nodding her head, she began to give a more in depth explanation. Some kind of middle-ground between admitting her feelings and keeping them guarded. "I gave it to you because, I think despite all your fooling around, your bad habits, your snarky attitude and the fact that you mentally scarred my dog....twice." She pointed to Garble who stood at the foot of the coach, whimpering slightly. "...Despite doing everything in your power to try and deny it, I think you're sweet. And you have people that depend on you...people I know you don't wanna let down." A smile graced Norman's features as he heard her explanation, not a half-smile or amused smirk, but a real, genuine expression of happiness overtook him, a small tear forming in the corner of one of his vibrant, amber colored eyes. "You're sweet too Sunny, you know that right?" She nodded happily in agreement, Before being surprised as he latched on to her in a sudden hug. Which she happily returned, thankful he couldn't see her quickly reddening face. After a good minute or two, Norman, much to Sunset's dismay, broke the embrace and headed out the door. "So I guess this is goodbye, for real this time." "Sadly it looks that way." Sunset watched contently as Norman walk out the door, happy to know she helped him, and maybe got a few brownie points with him for it. However, he stopped just shy of exiting, taking a moment to turn around and speak to her before walking out. "I'll....find some way to pay you back for this Sunny, I promise." And with that, he was off. Pay me back huh? She thought as she wandered lazily back to the couch to lay down. content with the progress she'd made in her new prospective relationship. I could certainly think of something. She thought happily, as a few "less than pure" thoughts popped into mind. Author's Note Yay! another chapter done. Quick shout out to derpibooru commenter "Background Human" who's comments I used in dialogue in a couple of places."
