Sunset Shimmer: Student of Magick

Thursday and Friday passed slowly. No schedule meant time was not advancing as it normally did, leading Sunset to believe she was trapped in a temporal spell designed to drive her to madness. She occupied her time studying what she could, though her research did little to fill the gaping expanse that was her relative freedom. By noon on Thursday, Sunset decided to occupy herself with helping about the house, completing what minor chores she could. She did not feel right playing games or lounging while her friends were in class, despite the assurances from all four of her hosts that she did not need to worry about it.

Rather than the standard office hours and days, Cookie worked ten-hour shifts as an administrative assistant for the deputy mayor four days each week, usually leaving Wednesday free. She was a homemaker with her free time. Anyone spending much time around Cookie Crumbles could see where Rarity had learnt the basics of colour, style, and fashion, though Cookie hardly shared her daughter's devotion to the topics. Last season was fine, and what mattered most was comfort even if it did mean a little clashing.

Applejack messaged Sunset shortly after school Friday that Apple Bloom had agreed to help with the move. There was no mention of Scootaloo, but they had decided to have Rainbow Dash and Sweetie Belle approach her about it. That message arrived a few minutes later, Dash using far too many abbreviations to convey that Scootaloo had promised to join them. Only Sunset's familiarity with her friend's strange message style allowed her to interpret it.

They would all meet at ten the next morning, which Sunset forwarded to Pearl. The gang was not meeting that day as the girls all had other things they needed to do, including completing homework or household chores that would allow them to leave the next day free.

Sweetie Belle returned home alone. Rarity had gone somewhere with Fluttershy again, probably to window-shop ideas for the new flat's décor. With the upcoming move and the issues of the past few days, that represented Sunset's first opportunity to speak privately with Sweetie Belle about the approaching Congressus Peculiaris.

"Are you still planning to come to the party?" Sunset asked as she checked a sheet of completed Algebra equations.

"Of course. I've really been wanting to see Midnight again and Pearl and Ace and Clash, too."

"Since Vampires attend, it's probably going to run late. Do you know what you're going to do to get away for it? Do you think one of your friends will cover for you?"

All the solutions she had written were correct. Sunset returned the sheet to Sweetie Belle, who replied as she tucked it into her binder. "Why don't I just see if I can stay with you? You could still be my tutor so I could say there's another big programming project."

"I 'work' Saturdays." Sunset paused for a moment. Given the recent changes and the move, she could modify that story. "Then again, there's no reason I couldn't say that I'm picking up more shifts and just happened to get next week off. My magick studies will probably take some time, so I'll need the cover anyway."

Sweetie Belle gave her a hug. "So we can have a sleepover next week?"

"Sure."

"Wait, did you say 'magick studies'?"

An overly excited Sweetie Belle needed several minutes to withdraw from her fantasies and get back to doing her homework. The young teen was too busy imagining Sunset as an anime heroine shooting lightning bolts and fireballs from her hands. Even learning that Sunset's magickal specialities - dictated by her Path - were boring old Mind and Space diminished none of her enthusiasm. When they were done, the time for bed was near. Rarity had sent a message to say that she was staying with Fluttershy after their shopping trip went too long.

Not for the first time, Sunset found sleep elusive. For once, though, the insomnia was driven by excitement rather than guilt or despair. She was taking further steps into an unknown world, but she would be living with and taking lessons from someone she knew to be friendly. Even her lack of transportation and impending reliance on a two mile walk to and from the closest transit stop lacked the substance to dull her good spirits. Despite a few drawbacks, Sunset felt that she finally had something resembling a grasp on her life.

Sleep finally claimed her shortly after midnight. Before she realised she was sleeping, Sweetie Belle's voice was calling her back to waking. The hour was already nine and Rarity had returned, Fluttershy driving them both.

Sunset dressed quickly, not too concerned with a morning shower as she would need one when they finished. The day's forecast was mild with no rain, for which she was thankful. She ate quickly, a simple breakfast of eggs and bacon that Cookie promised would fortify her for the heavy lifting.

Applejack was the next to arrive, Apple Bloom riding in the family truck with her. Sunset peeked from the window and saw that the youngest Apple did not look displeased, her face neutral until she saw Sweetie Belle. The girls shared a big hug as though they had not seen each other in weeks.

Sunset was rinsing her dishes and placing them on the stack to be washed when Sweetie Belle led Apple Bloom into the kitchen. The older girl had been expecting a scowl or a hostile glare from the latter and was surprised to be met by wide, sad eyes.

Apple Bloom's pink bow itself seemed to droop as the girl lowered her head. "Sunset, um ...," she allowed her words to trail off, looking anywhere but Sunset's eyes.

"Hey, Apple Bloom."

"Hi." Her fingers fiddled with the hem of her shirt.

Sweetie Belle put a comforting hand on her friend’s shoulder. Apple Bloom lifted her eyes, glancing between the two of them. Finally, Apple Bloom took in a deep breath that she released in a sigh.

"Sunset, Ah...," she cleared her throat before continuing. "Look, Ah don't know what got inta me, but Ah'm right sorry. Ya didn't deserve the way me and Scootaloo treated ya, especially after ya fergave the last time."

Sunset placed her plate on top of the stack and dried her hands on a nearby towel. She turned to face Apple Bloom, who visibly tensed and reached up to squeeze the hand on her shoulder for support.

"Has anyone explained what happened at the school?"

"Yeah, but that don't make it right."

Sunset padded over to the girl, extending her arms. When Apple Bloom did not flinch away from her, she wrapped the younger teen in a hug. Sweetie Belle joined to sandwich the redhead between them.

"It's not your fault, Apple Bloom. Those creatures did the wrong thing. I'm just glad we can be friends again, so please put all of that behind you." Sunset gave her a little pat on the back and smiled. "Now, you ready to show off those farm girl muscles for us?"

That elicited a happy giggle. "Ah can handle anythin' ya throw at me."

Considering how little she had to move, Sunset knew the statement to be true.

"Be careful with your promises," Sweetie Belle warned with a chuckle. "Someone might actually throw something heavy at you. What would you do then?"

"Ah'd catch it ... or get squished."

They shared a laugh. Their mirth must have caught attention, for Rarity and Applejack entered the kitchen in time to see the group hug separating. Neither said anything, their grins expressing their reaction to the sight of at least one fully healed Crusader.

All of their friends arrived over the next half hour, Rainbow Dash the final one to arrive a few minutes before ten. While she had a reputation for pushing a schedule, Sunset could not remember her friend being late without good reason. Rarity was more likely to be fashionably late when applicable, but Dash's many athletic commitments and her goal of joining the Air Force or the Space Programme - complete with attending Air Force Camp and Space Camp every year - had taught her the importance of being punctual.

Dash and Scootaloo had been riding with Pinkie Pie. Like Apple Bloom, contrition was visible on the skateboarder's face.

Unlike her friend, Scootaloo immediately grabbed Sunset Shimmer and pulled her into the house, shutting the door behind them without saying a word. Dash threw a worried look their way but said and did nothing.

When they had privacy, Scootaloo quickly turned to face her two-time victim.

"I came because I wanted to say something. I'll leave right away, so just listen, okay?" Her voice was flat.

"Go ahead."

Scootaloo took a deep breath. "They told me about those things, what they did to everybody, and said that it wasn't our fault. I wish it was that simple." She lowered her head to stare at their boots. "I'm the one that reported you and Sweetie Belle to Principal Celestia."

Sunset blinked in mild surprise. While not an outlier, she had placed the likelihood of Apple Bloom or Scootaloo having made a complaint in the lower half of the probability distribution. Her reasoning had been that they would hesitate at causing problems for their friend. The greatest percentages had been reserved to the possibility that Celestia wove the complaint from whole cloth to manipulate Sunset. No matter how it had happened, she had not expected she would ever know.

Though she had not prepared for this outcome, she did not want to allow the silence to linger. The older teen decided to use the tactic that had worked previously: She wrapped Scootaloo in a hug.

The skateboarder was known to be far less emotional and hands-on than her friends, not too different from Rainbow Dash or Sunset herself in that respect. Scootaloo returned the hug anyway.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice muffled by Sunset’s shirt.

"You're forgiven. Will you please stay and help? I know the girls would love to hang out with you."

Scootaloo pulled back a bit without breaking the hug altogether, giving herself the space needed to look up at Sunset. "Why do you keep forgiving everybody?"

"I have my reasons. You're sorry for what you did, and it wasn't in your control this time." Sunset gave her a knowing look. "Besides, Scootaloo, holding onto anger isn't a good thing.

"The person I used to be held onto bitterness and anger because of things that happened to me when I was very young. You saw what happened from that. I've never forgiven them and probably never will, but I'm not letting that make me who I am anymore."

She smiled at the girl. "I can forgive you because you didn't mean it. Even if someone does mean it but they don't ever apologise, it doesn't do any good to stay mad at them forever. Okay?"

Scootaloo pushed herself free of Sunset's arms entirely. "I still decided to say it, though. I could've found other ways to hurt you while that was going on, but I picked that one. It's not like somebody said 'Report her to the school.' I hurt you bad, and I could've hurt Sweetie Belle even worse. That should've been enough to stop me, but I went ahead and did it."

"I was hoping you wouldn't notice the difference between what was forced on you and what wasn't, Scootaloo."

"Are you saying I'm stupid?" Scootaloo's body tensed as though preparing herself for a fight.

"I'm trying to say that you weren't thinking rationally. I've dealt with guilt from things I did, and I didn't want you to go through it again. That's why I was hoping you'd believe everything was out of your control." She reached forward to hug the skateboarder again. This time, Scootaloo relaxed.

"If you insist on feeling bad about it, then you can make it up by staying here and helping me move, okay?"

Only a moment passed before Scootaloo returned the second hug, quietly replying, "Okay." She tightened the embrace, adding a mumbled, "Thanks, Sunset."

When they released each other, Sunset noticed a few tears running down Scootaloo's cheeks. She offered one of the tissues from the coffee table, which the younger teen accepted. She dried her cheeks and eyes, leaving no hint that something as 'un-cool' as tears had ever been present before moving back to the lawn. The rest of the girls were in three small groups, chatting or coordinating. Button Mash had arrived while Sunset and Scootaloo were talking and was sitting on the curb next to Sweetie Belle, the two playing a game together on matching handheld systems.

"Everyone ready?" Sunset called as she closed the front door. At the various affirmations, she said, "Rarity wanted to handle organising, so she'll stay out here. Whoever feels like a strong lifter can follow me."

Sweetie Belle was staying with her sister, as were Fluttershy and Twilight. The rest, including Button Mash, followed Sunset to the back of the house where the rear entrance opened to a foyer that had two other doors. One led to the basement, where they had placed Sunset's things after Magnum had some choice words with her former landlord about unlawful eviction.

Sunset Shimmer was nearly the opposite of a hoarder. She likely could have moved most of her possessions alone with a borrowed truck. As it was, with so many vehicles and friends available, she would have been surprised if the entire moving crew needed more than one trip.

Her bed had been disassembled, leaving the headboard and the mattress as the largest parts. She had a four-drawer dresser that was the heaviest thing to be moved. What clothing she had not kept in the house was stored in two plastic boxes gifted from Cookie. She also had a small kitchen table and two chairs, plus some mismatched living room furniture. Most of the rest of her things were boxes of books, a good portion of which had been collected when she was learning more about the human world. In addition, she had her kitchen implements, bed sheets, towels, and a few other miscellaneous items. Despite much of what she owned being second-hand, she fixed what needed it and maintained everything well so that none of it gave what Dash called a 'poor girl vibe.'

They decided to form a human ladder to get the smaller items moved first. The three Crusaders to join the lifting team were the perfect size to fit in the stairs while also being able to manoeuvre everything around themselves. In only fifteen minutes, all the smaller boxes and possessions were piled in the backyard. Team lifts got the dresser, mattress, and bed frame to the truck, where Rarity used her team to place what was arriving for the least possible damage. She insisted on taking anything particularly fragile herself, placing lamps and a vase in the backseat of her car after wrapping them in old newspaper and blankets.

Less than an hour saw everything packed and ready to move. They would not have needed even that much time except Rarity kept wanting things rearranged; Applejack had to start the truck and drive to the next block to stop the constant directives. In addition to the truck, Rarity's car and Pinkie's sister's van carried the spillover with Fluttershy's van transporting everyone.

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom wanted to ride with their sisters. Sunset took the front seat with Fluttershy to give directions. Their travel time was nearly doubled when they realised that Rarity was falling behind them. She would not drive quickly, apparently afraid for her cargo's safety. Rather than hold the rest of the group, Sunset sent the address to Sweetie Belle and the others kept going.

There was a terrible desire in Sunset to see Applejack's face as they left the highway and turned toward her farm. The exit was the last one for some distance; most of the area was taken by corporate farms and little else. Only a few family farms remained, eking livings from the local Farmer's Market, grocery stores specialising in local merchandise, and the subset of the population that preferred to buy from the source. A glance out the back to Applejack's truck showed the cowgirl's mouth agape as they made the final turn that would get them to Sweet Apple Acres.

Even the van's passengers were showing surprise, except for Fluttershy. She was apologising for not being able to follow directions correctly. This quieted when Sunset had her take the last driveway before they reached the Apple family's home and pull behind the garage.

Pearl was seated on the steps and puffing on a real corncob pipe. She gave them all a genial wave as they stopped. Sunset was uncertain whether the pipe was a prop or not, as she had not previously seen Pearl in casual circumstances. Others smoking did not bother her; the activity was legal but rare in Equestria and she had smoked a bit there and upon arriving in the human world. Only the realisation that it would hurt her ability to become the school queen made her quit.

"Right on the dot," Pearl said as Sunset/Sparky stepped from the van. "Will y'all be needin' mah help?"

"I think we'll be fine. Thanks for offering." Turning to her friends, she said, "Girls, this is Pearl, my new landlady. Pearl, my friends." She gestured to each one, giving their names.

"Ah'll go make up some refreshments while yer gettin' everythin' settled. Come on over ta the main kitchen when yer done."

After accepting their thanks, she left them to decide on the unload procedure. Fluttershy wanted to wait for Rarity, while most of the others were insistent on seeing the place immediately. As Dash stated, Rarity would need her own tour.

Sunset took her friends around her new flat. When they were done, Rainbow Dash proclaimed it 'acceptably awesome,' while Fluttershy was thrilled that there was a view over the cow pasture and the sheep barn. None of the others had any negative comments, just observing that they were pleased their friend had been able to find a nice place to live and a landlady who seemed kind.

They were unloading the truck when Rarity finally joined them, creeping to a halt next to Applejack's truck.

"You have no idea how terrifying the streets are when one is carrying delicate glasswork in the back," she stated, lifting one of the lamps gently as though afraid it would break from physical contact. "Some ruffian on a motorcycle was tailgating me and had the audacity to speed around me when I wouldn't go faster while waving a certain finger at me."

"Oh, Rarity, I'm so sorry about that." Fluttershy gave her friend a gentle pat on the shoulder. "Do you need to take a break?"

"Darling, I need to track that young man down and give him a piece of my mind, though I suppose some work will take my mind off everything. Sunset, would you be so kind as to show me around so we can find the perfect placement for your things?"

"Way ahead of ya," Applejack said as she lifted the headboard. "We got it all settled while we were waitin'. Why don't ya go help 'organise' inside?"

"What a splendid idea!" Rarity practically danced with glee, seeming completely oblivious to the sarcasm directed at her. "Come along, Sweetie Belle, we must ensure Sunset's new flat is perfect. Bring the other lamp along, please."

Fluttershy accompanied the sisters, several of the others rolling their eyes.

Like the first half of the move, the second half took far longer than expected. Rarity insisted that the best way to determine the right placement for everything was by trying each option physically. This was best accomplished after assembling the bed, which then required three or four people to move it.

At Fluttershy's pleading, Rarity settled for the final arrangement. She declared that she would be returning soon to finish it, along with new curtains and drapes and towels and anything else she could create to replace Sunset's mismatched property. Her wording may have been insulting if Rarity did not actually possess excellent taste and was not trying to help in the way she knew best.

Three hours remained until Sunset had to leave. They spent that time in the main house's kitchen, enjoying Pearl's homemade lemonade and several plates of different types of cookies. Though Sweetie Belle/Orchid and Pearl recognised each other, they convincingly introduced themselves. Applejack dominated the initial conversation with all manner of farm talk. She seemed impressed with Pearl's openness and lack of derogatory comments for smaller farms.

Dash and Scootaloo were clearly getting bored with sitting in the kitchen and requested permission to look around the property. Pearl granted it on the condition of not scaring the animals or damaging anything. Pinkie and Apple Bloom followed them after the former promised to make sure their friends would behave. Sunset felt a little magick accompanying the promise that felt like the magick she had noted when she made the deal with Pinkie Pie and saw that Pearl's smile and nod had some knowing weight to them.

"I'm really happy for you, Sunset, but I am wondering how you're going to get around from out here," Fluttershy said. "Doesn't the last bus run after you get off work?"

"I still have my savings, so I'll be looking for some kind of vehicle this coming week. Someone else offered to give me a ride today."

"Oh, darling, you simply must take my father with you. He knows something about automobiles and will be happy to help you get a fair deal."

"We looked up a few online this week; he offered to take me Monday to check out some of them. Would you like to come with us, Rarity?"

"But of course. Father may know about what makes a car tick, but you need a discerning eye to make sure it is the right complement for you. Could you send me the list?"

While Sunset forwarded the list she and Magnum had compiled, Pearl decided to join their conversation. "Ya know how ta drive a stick?"

"I can handle bikes, if that makes a difference."

"It might take ya a bit ta get the hang of a car, but Ah've got plenty of space fer practisin'. Get a stick 'n ya won't regret it."

"You heard the lady, Rarity," Sunset said, turning to her friend with smile. "Going for a standard."

Rarity gave a small frown. "I suppose, if you insist, but that does rather limit your options." Her frown faded as she checked the links and tuned out the greater world around her.

"So how'd y'all get ta know each other? No offence meant, but y'all ain't exactly what Ah'm used ta seein' in groups of friends at yer age."

The two most likely to speak without thinking were probably in the next county by that point, so the answers glossed over Sunset's past transgressions to focus on individual relationships and their widely varied interests. Twilight and Fluttershy had to be encouraged to talk about themselves, the former still getting used to social interaction and the latter still shy around strangers, but they did gradually become more talkative.

Their wayward friends eventually returned. Pinkie had promised to help the Cakes with a birthday party they were hosting the next day, which reminded Fluttershy that she needed to get to the animal shelter for the evening walk and story time. Since the two largest vehicles were leaving, that pulled most of the others with them.

Rarity wanted to be home in time for dinner and reminded her sister and Button that they still had to work on a project. They departed last, taking Scootaloo and leaving Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Rainbow Dash, who was sleeping over with the farm family that night.

"Are ya settled?" Applejack asked. "It's not like it'll take us long ta get home."

"I think everything's good. If something comes up, I'll let you know. Thanks again, girls."

Pearl and Sparky waited until they heard the truck leaving the farm before they spoke again. "Ya've got good friends there, haystack."

"They're definitely the best."

"We'd best get a move on. The Hierarch is gonna be presentin' the plans fer the Congressus Peculiaris tonight."

"Speaking of which, he said Orchid could come with me. Thanks for your help with that. She's really excited." Sparky was about to head back to her bathroom for a quick shower before she paused. "Oh, just so you know, we're planning for her to stay the night with me."

"That ain't a problem. Ah mostly meant ta let me know about havin' Sleepers comin' around."

Neither needed much time to get ready. They exchanged small talk during the ride to the Great Hall. Sparky watched the buildings pass them and felt happy. Maybe the little candle still had some life in it.

PART I END