Sunset Shimmer entered her dorm room in a huff. Ever since she started college a few months ago, Sunset had been extremely overwhelmed with schoolwork. She was used to having a lot of pressure put on her. She had faced demons of all shapes and sizes back in high school, and had even been one for a time.
But these challenges were nothing compared to the ones placed on her by society's expectations of how a 19 year old girl should behave.
She had just gotten done with her classes for the day, but still had a ton of studying to do. Because she knew that if she didn't study, she would no longer be fulfilling society's expectations of what she should be doing with her time at this stage in her life.
It's funny really, Sunset thought to herself. Before she had started college, she hadn't really cared about what anyone thought of her. But college was a whole new league than high school.
Back at Canterlot High, she had been able to just slip right back in after her redemption. Sure, this took a while, but she had finally managed to accomplish this. But at here she was at Crystal State, ready to start a whole new chapter in her life...
...Right before realizing that freshmen are looked down upon just for being freshmen.
"This is like racism," Sunset said to herself. "But on a smaller scale."
Now she had to go through a whole new stage of redemption. Not because people knew about her shady, demonic past, but because people are accustomed to looking down on anyone smaller than them.
So, here she was, studying in her dorm room by herself. "At least Twilight will be out of classes soon," Sunset muttered.
She grabbed a textbook from her bag, climbed onto her bed, and slipped on her headphones. She pressed 'play' on her iPod and cracked open her book.
Just as 'Weird Al' Yankovic started playing a few minutes later, Sunset heard the door to their dorm creak open and abruptly slam shut.
She pulled her earbuds out and slammed her book shut before retreating into the living room of their dorm to greet her roommate.
When she saw her buddy's steamed expression, Sunset's smile suddenly fell flat. "Bad day?" she questioned sympathetically.
"Was it ever," was Twilight's miffed response. "Do we have any Ramen? I'm in the mood to gorge myself on some cheap noodles."
"You mean you didn't bring any?" Sunset leaped up in surprise. "But you said you were doing grocery shopping today!"
Twilight was silent for a moment. Sunset watched as her friend's irises widened as she remembered the responsibility she had been entrusted with that day. "I did, didn't I?" She face-palmed herself and let out a groan. "I'm sorry, Sunset, I'm just really tired today." She pushed up her glasses, which had begun to fall off of her nose when she had smacked herself in the face.
Sunset sighed. "It's ok. You can do it tomorrow."
Twilight leaped up for the second time in two minutes. "No, I can't!"
"What? Why not?" Sunset gaped.
"I have that big interview with Equestria Daily, remember?" Twilight was referring to the school newspaper. They had wanted to do a piece on her research in Greater Equestrian Studies.
Sunset moaned. "And I can't go tomorrow, either. I promised I'd go visit Applejack at Appleloosa State after school!"
The girls sat in silence for a moment, pondering the issue. Suddenly, Twilight began to beam. "I know! You can go tonight!"
Sunset Shimmer stared at Twilight in dismay. "Why me? You're the one who was supposed to do it!"
"Yeah, but I need to sort out what I'm going to say for the paper tomorrow," Twilight replied. "Either you go now or we have nothing to eat for the next two days."
"But I've never been shopping by myself before!" Sunset admitted. There. She had said it. She had never wanted to admit this rather embarrassing fact to her roommate, but at this point, she was starting to see no other way out of it.
"Up until a few months ago, you had never been to college before, either. And now look at you!" Twilight argued. "Besides, it's better late than never, right? Now go, I'm sure you'll do fine!"
"But what store am I even supposed to go to?" Sunset's argument was too weak to even try anymore, but that didn't mean that she couldn't take advice from a shopping alumni.
"If I were you, I'd go to ALDI. They have better deals than Target and Walmart combined, and we're on a budget right now. So go on, you can borrow my car." Twi dangled the keys in front of Sunset's face.
She swatted them away and then stuck out her hand. "If I'm going to pick this stuff out, you're going to at least pitch in."
Twilight grumbled something inaudible under her breath as she stuck her hand into her purse, which was strewn across the couch. After fishing around for a moment, she pulled out her purple satin wallet, which was embroidered with pink stars.
Sunset cracked the wallet open before grimacing at its contents. "15 dollars and 82 cents? That's all you're going to give me?"
Twilight raised her hands into the air, as if she were surrendering to the police. "Hey, that will get you farther in ALDI than you know. Plus, you can always put in some of your own if you don't like what you see."
Sunset shoved her own $10 bill into the wallet along with its previous contents, then she turned to leave.
"Wait!" Twilight shouted suddenly.
Sunset turned around to give her friend a strange stare. "What now?"
Twilight fished around in her purse some more before surfacing once more with a single quarter. She handed it to Sunset. "Here. This is for renting a shopping cart."
Sunset gaped at it. "They make you rent shopping carts here?"
"It's actually very good for the environment. Bring the quarter back when you're done with it, though. They have an option to get it back when you return the cart, and this is my special ALDI-only coin." Twilight instructed Sunset as if she were teaching a child how to say 'please' and 'thank you'.
"Yes, mother," Sunset joked. She turned to the door and left before Twilight could decide to give her any more instructions on how to run an errand.
"Society expects me to be able to run an errand on my own by the time I'm 19," Sunset spoke to herself as she made a beeline for the car. "I'm just fulfilling my expectations."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Sunset pulled into the ALDI parking lot, she looked at the tiny shop as if it were a joke. It was by far the smallest store in its strip mall, smaller even than the Smoking Accessories store right next door.
This was Sunset's first hint that she was in the wrong part of town.
As she stepped back out into the brisk air, she pulled up the hood on her pinkish-purple hoodie in an attempt to keep her long hair from whipping in her face. As she was about to walk in, she noticed that the shopping carts were kept right outside of the store. She pulled out Twilight's quarter and stuck it in a slot that someone had attached to the bar of the cart. The moment the coin was in, a long chain that she hadn't noticed until just then popped out of the slot of the next cart down. This caused Sunset to leap back in surprise before regaining herself and grabbing on to her cart's handle.
Sunset pushed the cart through the large, glass, sliding doors that marked the entrance to the market. And once she was inside, she was in nothing short of food paradise.
Everywhere she looked, Sunset saw beautiful discount flags, some of them up to 70% off. Fruit that wasn't even in season anymore was on sale.
Naturally, she immediately forgot she was on a budget. She started going crazy grabbing things off of the shelves that she didn't even need. She reasoned, "If everything's really cheap, I can afford to spend a little more."
She didn't even notice that nothing was name-brand until she was halfway through the frozen food section. Food that she had always hated suddenly looked tantalizing just because of its price tag. Anything that Sunset thought Twilight or herself might need, she placed in the basket. By the time she was done shopping, her cart was almost completely full.
Proud of her success, Sunset pushed her now-heavy shopping cart to the checkout line. She knew that Twilight would be proud of her upon her return. She just couldn't wait to see Twilight's face at the bargains she scored!
However, upon reaching the line, Sunset realized why this place could afford to have such low prices.
Every checkout station had a line at least five carts long behind it, and all of these carts had even more stuff in them than hers did. Sunset sighed in dismay as she got into the shortest line. This was going to take a while.
As she got closer to the cashier, Sunset began to notice something familiar about her. There was something about her, her voice especially, that made Sunset feel like she had met her before. As she got to the front of the line, Sunset suddenly realized who she was facing.
"Sour Sweet? Is that you?" Sunset gaped at the girl. She hadn't seen this particular Crystal Prep student since the Friendship Games back in high school. She had stayed in touch with all of the other competitors, but Sour Sweet had never had enough time to hang out.
The teen glanced up from the baggage, rolled her eyes, and said in her usual sarcastic, singsong-y voice, "Why, yes, it is me! I'm so glad that you remember me! I'm sorry, but you're name is slipping my mind right now... It's not... Terrible... Friend, is it? Yes, Terrible Friend, I believe that's what your name is." She grinned her winning smile at Sunset, failing to disguise her burning hatred for her.
"Actually, it's Sunset Shimmer. And I'm not a terrible friend. I tried to get in touch with you, Sour Sweet, but you never wanted to hang out." Sunset tried to keep her cool, but if this was how this girl was going to treat her after years without contact, then she wasn't going to have it.
Sour Sweet just rolled her eyes and said, "Listen, why don't you just let me do my job, and then we can all be on our way. Frankly, I was never to fond of you. You know why? Well, after the Friendship Games, I was expelled from Crystal Prep for bad sportsmanship and declining grades, and since then, I've been a high school dropout. I was disowned by my parents after that, and I've been having to shift from job to job just to keep myself together." All this time, Sour Sweet was ringing up Sunset's items with distaste. "You ruined my life, Sunset Shimmer. And I will never, ever forgive you for that." There was a moment's silence before Sour Sweet said, back in her sing-song voice, "That'll be twenty six dollars and seven cents, maam!"
Sunset pulled out Twilight's wallet and counted up the change. "I don't believe this," she groaned after doing the tally in her head.
"What's wrong, miss?" Sour Sweet said in her bubbly voice. "Are you a little short?"
"I'm exactly a quarter short," Sunset replied. Her heart was sinking fast. "How is it even possible that I'm exactly a quarter short?"
"Well, you are," Sour Sweet said. "If you can't pay, then go home until you can."
Sunset began to feel an eye twitch coming on just as she thought of a solution. "Hey, I think I left a quarter in my car. Can you hold all of my stuff but not my cart for a minute?" She grinned at Sour Sweet, hoping that she wasn't immune to a taste of her own medicine.
Sour Sweet smirked at Sunset. "Do you honestly think I'm ready to do you any favors?"
"Please, Sour Sweet?" Sunset begged.
"Fine." Sour Sweet raised her hands in the air. I'll hold your stuff. But be quick about it. These people next in line aren't gonna wait." She gestured to the line that had formed behind Sunset.
And with that, Sunset dumped all of her stuff on the floor behind the register and made a dash for the door.
The second she was out, Sour Sweet leaned on the intercom. "Will Adagio, Aria, and Sonata please come to Register 5? Thank you, Register 5."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, Sunset was outside the store, trying to figure out how to put the chain back into the slot. "I need to get this quarter out of here right now!" She yelled out. "Will something please go like it's supposed to today?"
After a few minutes of trial and error, Sunset finally found out how to get the chain back into the slot. The quarter popped out of the second slot with a satisfying chink.
Sunset snatched it up and ran back inside, only to find three of her worst enemies waiting for her.
"The Sirens!" she screeched. She picked up a jar of peanut butter off of one of the shelves and threw it at Adagio. The attack missed and struck an innocent wall behind her, causing the jar to explode.
Sonata, who got splattered slightly by the peanut butter bomb, pressed a button on her walkie talkie and spoke into it. "Cleanup in Isle 3."
"Chillax, dude," Aria said. She seemed different than she was before... slightly more mellow. "We don't do that anymore. We work here. And you're payin' for that peanut butter, man. Jiffy doesn't deserve any of that crap, dude."
Adagio must have noticed Sunset's confused expression, because she stated, "Aria's going through a hippie phase."
"It's not a phase, dude!" Aria suddenly turned on her sister. "This is me now. Get used to it!"
"Cool it, Flower Power." Adagio shoved her little sister out of the way. "Sunset Shimmer. It's been a while."
"Why is it that my worst enemies all work at this store?" Sunset groaned. She hit her head on the nearest wall, getting peanut butter remains all over her face.
"Hey, that's a little harsh." Sonata said. "We can't be your worst enemies. There has to be someone worse than us."
"No, actually, there's not," Sunset grumbled. She lifted her face from the wall, revealing a peanut butter impression of her face on its surface.
"Shut up, all of you," Adagio snarled. The other girls backed away from their big sister in fear. "Now then," she said, turning back to Sunset. "Have fun finding all of your stuff."
"What do you mean, finding it?" Sunset replied, still confused. "I left all my stuff with..." She paused when she saw that the Sirens were laughing at her. "...Sour Sweet!" Sunset took off, in a frenzy to find all of her things.
She didn't find all of it. The Sirens had stuck everything in the most ridiculous of places, probably just to trip her up. For instance, sticking her bag of apples in a pineapple display, at putting the sack of flour she had taken among a tower of sugar bags.
She did find the majority of her things, however. What made things difficult now, though, was that she no longer had a cart to carry her things in. She had to sneak into storage when the employees weren't looking and steal a cardboard box to hold her stuff in.
She finally made it back to the register. Sour Sweet wasn't on duty anymore, which was a shame, because Sunset had really wanted to give her a piece of her mind. Instead, a young man named David was working the register. Sunset couldn't help but think that he was cute as he rang up her items, as well as the price of the smashed peanut butter bottle, and gave her the same verdict that Sour Sweet had : twenty six dollars and seven cents. Along with the money, Sunset also gave the handsome cashier her phone number. And with that, she dragged her cardboard box out to Twilight's car.
"I can't believe I just finished my first errand!" Sunset said to herself proudly. "An all-around success, if I do say so myself."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back at the dorm, Sunset burst in with her grocery cardboard box, shouting, "I'm home!"
Twilight came out to greet her, but quickly stopped when she saw the box.
"Why don't you have any bags?" Twilight asked slowly.
"Ask yourself this, Twilight." Sunset leaned in closer, and whispered, "Do you honestly want to know?"
Without even really having to answer, Twilight started giving Sunset a hand unloading the groceries. As the last item was put away, Twilight suddenly stopped and asked Sunset, "So, where'd you put the Ramen? I'm still in the mood to gorge on cheap noodles."
And with that, Sunset flopped down on the couch and screamed.
