Sunset Shimmer stepped off the bus, smiling as her boots hit the sidewalk outside CHS. However good the company, the bus ride had been long, and being able to stretch her legs again was a welcome relief. She followed Fluttershy off to one side, where Pinkie Pie and Rarity were already standing, the other students who’d been at Camp Everfree gathering in dribs and drabs nearby on the school front lawn. As she and Fluttershy drew level with their friends, an exuberant cry was heard from behind them, in the familiar voice of Rainbow Dash.
“That was an awesome summer!” she exclaimed as she too stepped down from the bus, Applejack right behind her, both heading straight towards Sunset and the other Rainbooms. Nods and smiles greeted her assessment.
“I’m kinda sad now that it’s all done, though,” she finished, eyes downcast.
“Ah know what ya mean,” Applejack agreed as she and Rainbow arrived next to Sunset, all six of them standing in a rough circle.
“It doesn’t have to end just yet, silly,” Pinkie chirpily chipped in.
“Indeed, the night is still young, darling,” Rarity concurred, “the afternoon, even.”
Rainbow perked up again at that, and Applejack clapped her on the shoulder.
“Ah know we already dropped Twilight off an’ all, on account a’ the bus goin’ right near her house, but the rest of us ‘re still here, we could hang out someplace for a while before headin’ home?”
Just as before, nods and smiles abounded between the six friends. Sunset hefted her bag on her shoulder, shifting its weight.
“Sugarcube corner?” she suggested. “I could use a walk to stretch my legs.”
“That would be lovely,” she heard Fluttershy respond beside her, almost drowned out by the others’ voicing their own approval, and the group as a whole set off in that direction, turning behind them to wave goodbye to their classmates.
They headed down the sidewalk towards town, all still wearing their Camp Everfree outfits, and lugging with them their heavy bags containing the rest of their clothes.
“Ya know,” Applejack said, glancing down at the logo on her polo shirt, “ah’m gonna miss that place.”
“It was rather spectacular, wasn’t it?” Rarity agreed, “the scenery was undisturbed, and the lake was so blue.”
“And wherever you went you were surrounded by nature,” Fluttershy added, “going to sleep in the forest each night, just like all the animals there.”
“And the stars!” Rarity gasped, remembering. “No light pollution, just an endless canvas of dark sky, and tiny pinpricks of light beyond count, impossibly far away.” She sighed happily. “It really was simply divine.”
For a minute, all six friends stayed quiet, thinking back to the magical nights they had had. ‘Magical’ was a term that Sunset often used when growing up as an accurate scientific descriptor, and so had always been hesitant to deploy it as a poetic adjective, but it certainly fit the bill here. The great, hazy silver bar across the sky, which she knew to be billions upon billions of stars, most too faint to see, was something she’d never witnessed from within Canterlot’s urban expanse; it had surprised her to find how moving it had been.
After a period of walking in silence, Rainbow brought the group out of their pleasant reverie.
“It just sucks that we have to go back to school next week,” she groaned.
“Had to go ‘n’ bring that up, didn’cha?” Applejack glared.
“I can’t help it, ok?” Rainbow shot back, “I don’t want the summer to end, but term time is looming right in front of us.”
Rarity pinched the bridge of her nose as she walked next to Sunset, turning to look back at Rainbow behind her.
“You know, darling, mentioning school starting again soon isn’t exactly the best way to make summer feel unending.”
Sunset looked back too, to see Rainbow Dash throw up her arms in frustration, but not make a vocal response other than annoyed noises.
“I like school,” Sunset said quietly.
Most of their reactions were predictable. Rainbow’s was the most dramatic, her jaw dropping open. Applejack raised an eyebrow in amusement and disbelief, Rarity looked inquisitive, and Fluttershy gave her a smile, though most of her face was hidden behind her hair. Pinkie Pie grinned and threw her arms around Sunset.
“Me too!” she cheered, “it’s full of all my favourite people!”
She then stopped dead, and her eyebrows dropped into a frown.
“I’m not so keen on the homework, though.”
“I’m not either,” Sunset laughed as they started walking again, “but that’s just it, Pinkie. I get to see you guys, day in, day out. I don’t want that to end.”
“But if we didn’t go to school, we could still just, you know, hang out together anyway,” Rainbow suggested, as if it hadn’t occurred to the rest of them.
“I don’t know if I could handle that,” Fluttershy said quietly, walking the other side of Sunset to Rarity. Fluttershy was in danger of retreating behind her hair again, so Sunset looked at her in askance and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
“S-Some days it takes a lot of courage for me to see people, even my friends,” Fluttershy admitted, almost in a whisper. “Some days I don’t have the energy at all. A-and on those days school can be horrible, but seeing you guys always cheers me up, and if we didn’t have to go to school, I wouldn’t get that kind of support.”
Nobody quite knew how to follow that, and so all six were quiet for a few moments.
“I will miss the forest,” Sunset spoke up, “but I do like it here.”
“Yeah; it’s not quite the same, though, is it?” Rainbow drawled from behind her.
Sunset slowed and stopped, the others noticing and coming to a halt around her. They were pretty much outside Sugarcube Corner anyway. She turned to her friends, who formed into a circle again.
“Everyone loves going away on holiday, sure,” she said softly, her gaze on the floor, “but I really like coming home.” She lifted her eyes to flit between each of theirs in turn. “I like it here. I like it more than I can tell you. In fact,” she grinned at them, “I gave up magical pony land to live here.”
Her friends watched her, unspeaking, unmoving, perhaps unblinking.
“This place,” she held her arms out, gesturing to the city around her, “is my home, and there’s nowhere I’d rather be.” She then gave each of them a warm smile, which seemed to break their motionless spell, for she received five in return. “And no one I’d rather be with.”
And with that, she turned, raised a hand to the glass door of Sugarcube Corner, pushed it open and led them inside.
Author's Note
I'm not trying to make some big statement with Fluttershy's anxiety, nor do I have any idea what being forced to interact with people in school must be like for those actually with such a condition. It just struck me that someone as shy as her might have days when she felt unable to face people at all, and that left to her own devices she'd probably see her friends quite a bit less, though never because she didn't like them.
I realised when I started this that it would be my first time writing for Sunset. I only realised halfway through that it was also my first time writing for the rest of the Mane Six. Between "That was awesome!" "Silly!" "Darling!" and Applejack's accent, I think I hit all the clichés in their opening lines save for Fluttershy's traditional "I mean, if you don't mind."
Anyway, this was a chapter intended solely to lead up to the next scene, and so would be way too long for an actual Equestria Girls film stinger, but it could always be the final scene of the movie, then followed by the credits, after which would come with the next chapter, the stinger itself.
Sunset walked across the floor of Sugarcube Corner up to the counter, admiring the displays of cakes in differing hues. The smell of coffee wasn’t overpowering, but nonetheless struck her, having spent several weeks away from it. She grinned at Mrs. Cake, asking for a medium-sized tea and a small slice of chocolate gateaux. Her friends queued up behind her, chatting amongst themselves as she ordered. Mr. Cake readied her tea and cake and brought it over on a tray, while Sunset sorted out money with Mrs. Cake at the till register. After collecting her change, slipping it into her purse, and depositing that back in her pocket, she smiled at her friends in line behind her. Figuring that six trays would crowd the table they chose, she elected to leave it at the counter, picking up her cup and saucer in one hand and her small plate of gateaux in the other. She turned to face into the room, intending to pick a table for them all, and froze.
It was a small miracle she somehow didn’t drop her tea, imagining the white china shattering on the hard floor. No muscles in Sunset’s body moved, even those used for breathing. There, at a table in the far corner from the door, sat someone with their back to her; someone Sunset recognised instantly, though all she could see were tight black jeans and heeled black leather boots, with everything else concealed behind a gargantuan mass of curly orange hair with yellow streaks running through it. Two other familiar forms sat on the sofa on the opposite side of the table, and although that meant that Sunset could see their faces, they didn’t hold her attention as much as the first.
“You!” she exhaled, forcing her lungs into operation once more, the word carrying despite its low volume, thanks to its intensity. This caused her friends to look around; those that turned to her looked puzzled, while those who looked in the same direction she herself did reacted in the same way she had, all motion ceasing.
The orange hair shook and then swung around as its owner turned in her direction, and magenta eyes locked onto her own, revealing a face she thought and hoped she’d never see again. Adagio’s expression was a flat stare, and the world felt as if it had gone silent for a few seconds, not daring to interrupt the tension in that held look.
“Sit down,” Adagio commanded, jerking her head towards the table behind her without breaking eye contact, her voice like steel in its hardness, and holding less warmth than the depths of space. Neither Sunset nor her friends made any motion to respond or move, though thankfully all breathing and cardiac functions had resumed, albeit well above their normal rate.
“We’ve got a lot to talk about,” Adagio announced in the same tone, and then turned away, back to her table, the expectation implicit that the Rainbooms would do as instructed without her supervision or persuasion. Sunset took a deep breath and put one foot in front of the other, starting the reluctant walk over to the sirens’ table, cake and tea still in her hands, and after a few steps she heard her friends moving to follow. Once their leader had turned away, Sunset’s gaze had fallen to the other two sirens. The blue one watched as the Rainbooms approached, although her expression was grim. The purple one didn’t even look up, but sat with her arms crossed and her jaw set.
Sunset lowered her tea and her cake plate to the table in the spot next to Adagio, all thoughts of eating forgotten, and slowly sat down. Adagio continued to look ahead, not having moved since she’d turned back around, her face unchanging, as Sunset’s friends warily approached the other seats.
.
Author's Note
If only, right?
I was talking with a friend of mine on here about whether there'd be a fifth Equestria Girls film, given that the usual October release time is taken up next year by the big-budget MLP Movie with its widespread theatrical release. At which point my friend said that he might have heard a spoiler for Legend Of Everfree, but had no idea if it was true or not. He then said that if it were true, "then A.) We’ll definitely be getting EQG5 and B.) Me and you are going to enjoy it."
That, to me, meant exactly one thing, and suggested that they'd be returning for the fifth film rather than the fourth, but if it's something Legend Of Everfree spoilers could ruin, then the implication is that their arrival must be hinted at or announced in that film somewhere, for which my best guess was the post-credits scene, so it didn't distract from film 4 itself. So this was what popped into my head that very instant. If anyone wants to write a story based on their idea of the film that follows, then please, be my guest. After all, Legend Of Everfree didn't include the scenes here, but it didn't contradict them either, so they could happily follow on from it.
Also, I know I did that big blog post about how the sirens shouldn't come back. They shouldn't, really. The two most recent films have shown that Rainbow Rocks cannot be topped, or even approached. It's best if their one appearance is their only one, as any other would surely end up disappointing in comparison. But as I said, I heard the above possible-spoiler, and I was so excited I approached this site with my hands covering the main bit of the screen for a week, until I had watched Legend Of Everfree, looking only at my Read It Later list and inbox. On that basis, I wouldn't have complained for an instant if this scene really happened and the sirens did return.
Newly added September 2017!
This story ends on a cliffhanger, with the intention of setting up the next Equestria Girls movie. It's left up to the reader to decide what that might entail, what the sirens wish to discuss, what happens next and so on. But one possible answer might be my new story, Haunted Wasteland. Hopefully that's open enough that this story can serve as a prequel to that one, while still keeping the allure of its ominous open ending.
