OLD STORY: How ShimmerBass started
"And the winner of the second heat is Sunny Flare!" Principal Celestia announced into the microphone. The students of Canterlot High clapped politely. The students of Crystal Prep Academy, however, erupted into a cheer.
"Sunny! Sunny! Sunny!"
15-year-old Sunny Flare beamed and waved to her fans.
"Thanks, guys!" she called, as she skated onto a bench.
"Good job, Sunny!" Pinkie Pie congratulated her.
"Thanks, Pinkie Pie!" Sunny smiled back. Though she didn't usually associate with competitors, Pinkie was someone you couldn't resist talking to.
"Hey, Sunny!" Pinkie scooted closer. "Wanna join my super awesome Master Shipper's group?"
"Master Shippers?" Sunny repeated as she removed her helmet. "What does that mean?"
"Like, you pick two people and pair them together!" Pinkie exclaimed. "From CHS, CPA, anywhere!"
"Okay!" Sunny nodded. That's simple enough. I can totally beat Pinkie at this.
"Any two people, right?" she repeated.
"Yup!" Pinkie nodded intensely.
"Got it. How about..." Sunny gazed around at the many students that surrounded them. "How about that girl and that boy?" She pointed to two Fashionistas in the bleachers. The girl was wearing yellow sunglasses on her head. The boy looked like a hipster or something, in Sunny's opinion.
"Blueberry and Norman?" Pinkie exclaimed. "Wow, you're good! Everybody at CHS knows that Blueberry has a crush on Norman! Are you a spy?"
Sunny laughed at Pinkie's ridiculous accusation.
"No way, Pinkie Pie. That would be cheating! Should I go again? Or do you go?"
"I'll take a turn!" Pinkie stood up. She shaded her eyes against the sun as she looked around. "What about that girl with the spiky orange hair, she's on your team, and Crimson Napalm?"
"Is that the guy Lightning Dust is talking to?" Sunny shaded her eyes as well. "The guy with the red mohawk?"
"The one and only!"
"Yeah, I could see that happening!" Sunny smiled and nodded. "Lightning Dust digs mohawks. She has one herself, obviously."
"Hey, let's all get mohawks!" Pinkie exclaimed suddenly. She immediately slicked her poofy hair up into a mohawk. Sunny's mouth dropped open.
"How did you get that mess to stand up straight in two seconds?"
"I'm just a good hairstylist!" Pinkie responded with a shrug. "Your turn now!"
"What? Oh, right!" Sunny resumed her scan of the track. "Nightingale and Descent, those two archers. They've been best friends for a long time."
"Those are the best couples!" Pinkie stated confidently.
"I know!" Sunny agreed.
I don't read a lot of romances, but whatever, she thought. It sounds cute.
"Hey, who's that?" Sunny asked, pointing to a girl with gorgeous, fiery red hair. She wore a tough-looking leather jacket, and her arm was wrapped around another boy, clearly her boyfriend.
"Her? She's Sunset Shimmer." Saying the name, Pinkie seemed to deflate a little bit. "She's kinda mean. Why do you ask?"
"I ship her with him!" Sunny confidently pointed at a boy near Sunset's boyfriend. This one had cerulean hair and pale blue skin.
"Thunderbass?" Pinkie asked in surprise. "He's Flash Sentry's- Flash is Sunset's boyfriend, that guy up there, by the way- Flash Sentry's best friend, so there's no way they'll ever get together because Sunset has Flash wrapped around her crooked finger like this!" Pinkie wrapped some hair around her finger to demonstrate her point.
"So? I bet once Sunset dumps Flash- or Flash grows a spine and dumps her- Sunset and Thunderbass will go out." Sunny folded her arms as if the matter was settled.
Pinkie gasped loudly.
"What? What is it?" Sunny asked, looking around. "Did Lemon Zest win the third heat?"
"How can Flash survive if he doesn't have a backbone?" Pinkie asked. "We have to help him!"
"No, Pinkie," Sunny responded with a roll of her eyes, "you just made it sound like Sunset controls him. 'Grow a backbone' means he gets the guts to stand up to her.
"So, back to shipping?"
"Alrighty!" Pinkie agreed. "I ship those two birds!"
"What?" Sunny looked around. "I thought we were only shipping people!"
"All's fair in shipping and war!" Pinkie said with a wink. "I could ship you with an orange peel, you know."
"Don't you dare!" Sunny gasped. "I'll ship you with a window!"
"I'll ship her with the wall!" Pinkie yelled, pointing at a nearby rollerblader who had already been eliminated.
"It's true! I gave the wall my cookies and half a chocolate bar!" the girl yelled back.
"Keep that relationship going, Tangerine!" Pinkie yelled back. Turning back to Sunny, she made a duck face. "Who's the master shipper now?"
"Oh yeah?" Sunny looked around for another victim. "Well, I ship that girl with the ponytail" -she pointed- "with an ear of corn!" The girl in question looked over, unamused.
"I told everyone, I don't like him!" she yelled. Tangerine hit her in the arm, a smirk on her face.
"Are you guys playing the shipping game?" interrupted Sugarcoat, coming from nowhere.
"Yup!" Pinkie and Sunny confirmed. Sugarcoat grinned.
"Great! I ship Sunny and Lyra Heartstrings!" she cried.
"Woah!" Sunny held up her hands. "I ship Lyra and Bon Bon!"
"I ship Lyra and Bon Bon, too!" Pinkie added. "Two to one!"
"Dang it!" Sugarcoat shook her head good-naturedly.
"I'm a Master Shipper!" Sunny boasted to her motorcross friend.
"I guess you are!" Pinkie agreed. She grabbed a notebook out of her mohawk and began writing.
"Sunny Flare has been added to the official list of Master Shippers!" she announced.
"Who else is on there?" Sugarcoat asked. She and Sunny crowded around Pinkie Pie.
"Oh, there's me, you, Tangerine Tropics, Raspberry Fluff, Rad, Vice Principal Luna, Cloudy Kicks, Gilda, Amethyst Star, Lemony Gems, Mr. Discord the janitor..." As Pinkie Pie rambled on, Sunny and Sugarcoat stared at her in shock.
"I don't even know half those people," Sugarcoat remarked.
"I wonder if Lemony Gems is related to Lemon Zest," Sunny added.
"...Lyra Heartstrings, Bon Bon, Lightning Strike, Heath Burns, Bubble Berry..."
"Will Sunny Flare of the Crystal Prep Shadowbolts please report to the starting line for the rollerblading finals?" Principal Celestia asked through the loudspeaker.
Sunny's eyes widened. I totally forgot!
"I have to go, guys. See ya, Pinkie Pie!" Sunny Flare called as she skated off.
"Bye, Sunny!" Pinkie waved. "Good luck!"
Sunny smirked.
"I don't need luck!"
Author's Note
I'm keeping this up in case anyone wants to read it, still. The new story is definitely different than this version. This chapter is not canon in my EQG headcanon.
"What a finish!" Dean Cadence shouted as Pinkie Pie crossed the finish line of the race course.
"Wheee!" Pinkie giggled. She had just won the speed-skating portion of the Tricross Relay for Canterlot High.
"Marvelous work, darling!" Rarity skated next to her, adjusting the teal ascot around her neck. "Here, let's go untie our skates so we can cheer on Sunset and Rainbow Dash, shall we?"
"Okie dokie" was on the tip of Pinkie's tongue, but in the corner of her eye she spotted Sunny Flare, angrily untying her skates alone. There was no telling where Lemon Zest was, and Pinkie felt a sudden twinge of pity for the rival skater.
"You know what, Rarity? I'm going to cheer Sunny Flare up," Pinkie declared, pointing over to Sunny.
"Her?" Rarity asked in disdain. "She's a Shadowbolt, Pinkie. They're some of the nastiest, most self-centered people in existence. They're like machines; they don't need to be cheered up."
"That's where you're wrong!" Pinkie gave Rarity's shoulder a quick squeeze. "I'll be back in a jiffy, Rares!"
"If you're sure, Pinkie..." Rarity cast a doubtful look in Sunny Flare's direction and then skated away to a nearby bench.
Pinkie rolled over and plopped down next to Sunny Flare. "Hiya, Sunny!"
Sunny made a face and scooted away from Pinkie. "Can't you see I'm sitting here?"
"Well duh!" Pinkie giggled. "Why else would I be sitting next to you?"
"What do you want?" Sunny mumbled.
"Are you upset about losing?" Pinkie asked.
"I don't need your pity," Sunny sneered. She unbuckled her helmet, revealing her short lilac bob. "It's only act two; Crystal Prep will still bring home the win."
"Act two?" Pinkie blinked. Where had she heard that phrase before. "Oh, you mean like in a play? Do you write? Are you like a theater junkie?"
Sunny Flare rolled her eyes. "It's a hobby; I'm too busy with schoolwork to do anything with it."
"Wanna play a game?" Pinkie asked. Sunny didn't answer, so Pinkie elaborated: "My sister Marble took a writing class a few years ago, and I came with her, and we learned this thing where you pick a stranger and come up with their backstory, like their personality and job and stuff! Since you like writing, I thought we could play it!"
Sunny chewed her lip. "Listen, Pinkie Pie, I shouldn't even be talking to you; Principal Cinch would have my skin if she knew. Since my partner seems to have disappeared, I'll play your game."
"Great!" Pinkie immediately began scanning the bleachers. "I'll go first. Pick a person and I'll make up a story about them!"
Sunny sighed. "That girl in the top right corner; with pink skin and glasses." -Sunny pointed to the girl in question- "She's in my AP history class, but I don't know her name. Tell me about her."
"Well she's obviously a princess!" Pinkie replied. "But she doesn't know it yet, she's still in her awkward years. She has a crush on the guy two rows below her, the one with the green hair. He likes her back but won't say anything. They'll get together once she discovers she's a princess. And her name? Mia Thermos-bottle."
"I think you just plagiarized a movie." Sunny's mouth twitched.
"So what if I did?" Pinkie waved a hand. "I'm not gonna go to jail! Now my turn to pick someone for you. The rocker chick with the purple hair, blue skin, and that cute scarf. I know her name but I won't tell you!" Pinkie stuck her tongue out jovially.
Sunny snorted. "This girl, let's call her Mystery since I don't know her name, is dating the Mohawk guy next to her. They just got in an argument because... Mystery wants to transfer to Crystal Prep? Let's face it," she added with a sly smile, "who wouldn't? Anyways, they're on the verge of a breakup. Mohawk will eventually dump her, but Mystery won't care because she's getting a superior education." Sunny smiled with satisfaction as she concluded her story.
"Oh, the drama!" Pinkie waved her hands around like a damsel in distress. "Who's Romeo and who is Juliet?"
"Romeo is the guy with the red hair from Canterlot High," Sunny answered immediately. "Juliet is the girl with white skin and lavender hair; I think her name is Fleur but I'm not entirely sure."
"Who's Mercutio?"
"You know Flankspeare?"
"Duh, his stories are so dramatic!"
"Oh. Then Mercutio is the guy in the white t-shirt." Sunny folded her arms. "Votre tour."
"Those two girls dancing are getting married next week." Pinkie pointed to the two girls in question. "The guy next to them with the nice fedora is a punk singer who just got dumped. He's trying not to show it."
"You know, he looks like someone Twilight Sparkle would date," Sunny remarked. "Just as lame as she is."
"Hey, Twilight isn't lame!" Pinkie protested. "Twilight is super-duper fun and nice!"
"No one at Crystal Prep is fun or nice," Sunny retorted. "Except possibly Lemon Zest, but that's besides the point."
"We've been having fun, Flare-y! Don't ruin the mode!" Pinkie took off her helmet.
"You were having fun, I was just passing time." Sunny stood up. "It's time to part ways, Pinkie Pie. I'll see you in the final round."
"Wait!" Pinkie gasped. "I have one last person I need to make a story about!"
"Who?" Sunny turned back, a flicker of curiosity rekindled in her raspberry eyes.
Pinkie stared at Sunny. "The girl in front of me is in love with her best friend. She's trying desperately to please her mentor, but nothing is ever good enough." With each word, Pinkie's tone became more serious. Her hair became flatter. "She pushes everyone away because she was abandoned when she was little. But if this girl just opened up like a cloud letting in sunlight, she'd realize that all her friends care about her. She'd get the girl, and she'd live happily ever after."
For a moment, neither Sunny nor Pinkie spoke. Finally, Sunny shook her head slightly. "So close and yet so far, Pinkie Pie." Skates in hand, Sunny walked away.
"Wowza." Pinkie sat there for a moment.
The she heard the tell-tale sounds of a magical vine monster threatening to eat the motorcross track.
Author's Note
I hope you enjoyed this new version. I've been working on an extended project for the past 2 years but it feels great to publish something. 
