“Ugh, am I so glad we finally get our week off,” said Rainbow Dash, stretching her arms behind her back as she let out a yawn.
“Ha! Spring break is more like an extended work-week for me out on the farm,” said Applejack. “Sunset, Fluttershy, you’re still good to help us with the animals, right?”
Sunset nodded idly as she continued to pack her backpack. “Yes, that’s right.”
“And I assume you’ll be looking after the horses mainly, Sunny?”
Sunset nodded again, and said, “Yep.”
Rainbow Dash let out a snort.
Applejack frowned. “What’s that about, Rainbow?”
“Oh, nothing,” said Rainbow Dash. It was obvious to all, however, that she had something to say, given the smirk on her face.
Sunset decided to oblige her. As she stood up, holstering her backpack onto her back, she asked, “OK, what’s so funny?”
“Oh, just that I thought you’d be more interested in raccoons than horses,” said Rainbow Dash.
Sunset raised an eyebrow, confused. “I don’t get it,” she declared.
“Remember when you had that super awesome battle with Twilight a few weeks back? Crystal Prep Twilight, that is,” Rainbow clarified.
“Yeeeees,” Sunset said, drawing out the single word, not sure she liked where this was going. “The ‘super awesome battle’ where not just this world but multiple worlds were nearly destroyed by Twilight Sparkle creating holes between dimensions, that battle?”
Rainbow Dash pouted, not liking Sunset’s sarcastic tone. “Yes, that battle. The one where you transformed into like, an angel, and brought your holy wrath down on Twilight!”
“I asked if she would accept my friendship,” Sunset said in as deadpan a tone she could manage. Sunset Shimmer was good friends with Rainbow, but some days she just found the other girl obnoxious.
“Yeah, that! And when you transformed, you got those kickass wings and that not-so-kickass horn.”
Sunset held her tongue. It had been years since she had had a horn on her head. Had the situation at the time not been so urgent, she would have waxed nostalgic about having one again. Rainbow Dash was right, though: the horn had been rather unwieldy, being far longer than her unicorn horn had ever been. Her wings of light, however, were far better, though Sunset wasn’t sure how they differed in function, if they did at all, from the wings of fire she had once sprouted on the school’s roof.
“But you also got those weird face-tattoos, too,” Rainbow Dash added. “They made you look like a raccoon.”
“Wait. What face-tattoos?” Sunset asked.
“Uh, the ones you had on your face, sugarcube?” Applejack asked.
Sunset frowned. “You do know I couldn’t have exactly looked at my own face at the time, right? I didn’t have a mirror or anything, and I changed back as soon as Twilight was finished with her mad spell.”
“Ohhhh, right. I guess that makes sense,” said Applejack. “Well, you had these red markings on your face, kinda like so.” Taking a finger up, she traced around her eyes, and then made a motion between her eyes across the bridge of her nose, attempting to demonstrate the exact extent of the red markings and failing.
“Darn. Now I really wish I had seen it. Oh well,” Sunset sighed. “I suppose it’s just as well, because as soon as somebody takes a picture or video it would have been all over MyStable.”
“Um, actually,” said Fluttershy, and she fidgeted as the attention of all the other girls was drawn to her, “I did a drawing of it afterwards.”
“Really? Do you have it here?” Sunset asked. She was mildly surprised about how convenient it was that Fluttershy had done a drawing, but Sunset wasn’t too fussed.
“I do, just let me find it,” Fluttershy said, setting her bag down. Rifling through her bag, she removed a ferret, a rabbit and a small bird before finally getting to a drawing book. “Let’s see, where is it...ah, here it is.” She presented her book to Sunset. Applejack and Rainbow Dash surrounded Sunset on either side to take a look.
Sunset let out an impressed whistle. She knew Fluttershy could draw and colour, but this was something else. “So that’s what I looked like, then,” Sunset said. Fluttershy had perhaps exaggerated some features, due to having no reference other than her own memory to work on, but Sunset knew the horn and wings made of a glowing light to be accurate.
She didn’t think her dress had had that many frills, but Fluttershy had certainly made the pink-and-white outfit look good. The fingerless white gloves were there, as well as the armbands and choker that had Sunset’s Cutie Mark from when she had been a pony as an emblem. Sunset bit her tongue as she saw the large cleavage Fluttershy had drawn and coloured in as well. There was no use in pointing it out, as Sunset knew all it would only embarrass both Fluttershy and herself at Applejack’s and Rainbow Dash’s expense, as they ribbed the one for mentioning it and the other for drawing it.
So instead, she praised Fluttershy. “This is a very nice drawing, Fluttershy,” said Sunset. “Would it be possible to get a copy or a scan? No, don’t give me this, you should keep the original, it truly is a beautiful piece of work.”
Fluttershy blushed slightly, but she took the compliment in praise.
“You didn’t have those marks under your eyes, but other than that, that seems about accurate,” said Applejack.
Sunset nodded in understanding. There was a red band in between her eyes, and a line on red on the side of her eyes. It wasn’t quite a raccoon-like mask, given raccoons usually had a deeper ‘mask’ around their eyes, but Sunset could see what Rainbow Dash had meant.
“Yeah, just like that! Maybe we should start calling you Sunset Raccoon, or maybe Raccoon Shimmer!”
Sunset exhaled, took in a deep breath, then let it out again. She could get through this, she really could. Raccoons were cool animals, weren’t they? Heck, Trotonto had given a dead raccoon a great send-off a year ago with a sidewalk memorial and nighttime vigil.
“Rainbow Dash! That isn’t very nice,” Fluttershy scolded her friend. “Maybe you should ask Sunset if she’s fine with that before you start calling her nicknames.”
Rainbow Dash sagged under Fluttershy’s criticism. Taking it to heart, she said, “Yeah, you’re right. Sorry, Sunny.”
“It’s alright,” Sunset said with a wave of her hand, marvelling at the detail in Fluttershy’s drawing. “Here, I’m done,” she said, handing it back to Fluttershy.
Fluttershy took it, putting the drawing book back in her bag. “Besides,” she suddenly said, looking back up, “I think Sunset resembled a red panda more than a raccoon. Oh, red pandas are so cute and cuddly!” She squealed.
To that, Sunset just buried her face in her palm. Please, let this be over with by the next week. I don’t think I can handle being called Raccoon Shimmer or Panda Shimmer for that long!
Author's Note
This was meant to be an amusing short vignette based on my observation on a Sunset thread a while back that her Daydream Shimmer form somewhat resembles a raccoon, thus I try not to overstay my welcome with this.
Cover art is from a shot in Friendship Games, which is the only instance I could find with the four girls here (Sunset, RD, AJ and Fluttershy) all together without Twilight, Rarity or Pinkie in between. Of course, you can see some of the Shadow Five in the background, but they're a lot less noticeable.
If you're wondering about that Trotonto mention, Google search 'Conrad Toronto'. One of the genuinely funniest moments of 2015.
