Sunset Shimmer and the New Year's Peacock
There are moments in life where you don’t question things. Then there are times you don’t want to ask, but you know you’re going to anyways. Sunset Shimmer was in such a position as she gazed at the peacock standing in her living room.
“Why is there a peacock in my living room?” Sunset asked, rubbing her head.
It was new years eve, only a few more hours until midnight. To celebrate the end to want, for most of them, had been the craziest year of their lives, Pinkie had suggested they all have a New Year’s Eve sleepover, just the spectacular seven as she called their magical group, to welcome the new year. As for why it had been at Sunset’s, the reason honestly had simply come down to, why not. Some had legit reasons, like Pinkie's parents would be out of town or Applejack's barn had rented out, but for the most part, they could of had the party anywhere. Sunset had happily agreed to host the party thinking nothing of it. Of course, when Rainbow and Pinkie said they had a ‘surprise,’ which would make them late for the party, Sunset should have known better.
When the pair walked into the apartment with the bird in tow, everyone’s reaction was immediate. Rarity and Applejack stood with their mouths open. Fluttershy had cooed at the bird before reality came to her. Twilight Sparkle had stood perfectly still, a cheery smile as her left eye twitched. Sunset, for all things consider having a bird in her no pets building, in her apartment no less, did a remarkable job at keep calm. The guilty parties, Rainbow and Pinkie Pie, were grinning from ear to ear as they beheld their ‘surprise,’ for all to see.
“Well,” Pinkie answered, circling her foot, “I wouldn’t say, steal, as much as, borrowed it, from the zoo without them knowing.”
The peacock gave a gobble and pecked at the ground.
Sunset breath through her nose. “Okay. So, why did you feel the need to ‘borrow’ a peacock in the first place? More importantly, how, did you, borrow, it?” her eyes briefly drifted towards Fluttershy, who seemed to be trying to hide behind Rarity.
“Darling?” the fashionista asked her friend.
“They…” Fluttershy muttered, “I… Ihad nothing to do with it. Rainbow only asked me if they had peacocks in the more interactive are of the zoo. The parts that have very low fences and you can get up close to some of the more tame animals. Honest!”
Applejack put a hand on her shoulder. “We believes you, Shy.” She then glared at Rainbow Dash.
Dash held up her hands. “Hey, we could have found that out on our own.”
Sunset stared daggers at Rainbow. “Back on track here, I’ll ignore for now ‘how’ you borrow it. Right now, I just want to know the ‘why,’ to all this, and if alcohol had anything to do with it.”
Pinkie Pie blew on her tongue. “Oh please, Sunny. That just be silly. Besides, we’re underage. You don’t think we’d stop that low?”
“Say’s the pair who stole an animal,” Sunset breathed.
“Barrow!” Rainbow Dash correct.
Sunset lunged forward as Applejack pulled her back.
“Good news, girls!” Twilight, who had been trying, and failing at staying calm, an insane smile on her face, said looking up from her phone. “If we plead guilty, we might be able to get away with small fine and no jail time.” she laughed. “No jail time, but we will get… records.” she started to cry. “I don’t want to have a record! I can’t get into college if I do!”
Fluttershy pulled herself up to rub Twilight’s back. “There, there, Twilight. My brother did time in juvie, and he got into college.”
“Really?” Twilight face lite up, staring intently at the shy girl.
Fluttershy simply nodded, not wanting to mention that it had only been a community college for three months before he dropped out.
“No one is getting into any trouble!” Sunset deadpanned. “We’ll just take it back, right now, and if anyone asks, we’ll say we found it in the park and we are ‘returning’ it like responsible people.”
“And we will,” Rainbow Dash said, crossing her arms confidently, “but you haven’t even heard out my idea yet.”
“And what,” Sunset began, “‘idea,’ would that be, Rainbow?”
“I’m glad you asked.” Rainbow Dash explained as if it was nothing. “See, I had this homework assignment in history class of holiday traditions and where they come from. We were to do a report on the history of anything we liked, and we’d get extra credit if it was on something that wasn’t too mainstream or hardly still practiced.”
Applejack whispered. “Well isn’t that something. You actually went for the extra credit part of your homework assignments.”
“Thanks, I… hey!”
The girls all laughed, while Dash fumed, Pinkie Pie continued their story. “So Dashie here asks me if I knew of anything, since i know all things that have to do with holidays and parties. Which i do! Did you know th eorgins of why we kiss under the mistletoe is because a Norse god was afraid everything was out to kill him?”
“That’s…” Twilight began, typing in her phone. A moment, “That’s… right.” she said dumbstruck.
“Really?” Rarity asked, looking over Twilight's shoulder. “What does that have to do with miselot?”
“Oh the god ended up being killed by it in his sleep by a arrow laced with misetole, so it’s hung to remember him by,” Pinkie said.
Before more questions could be asked, Sunset set them back on track. “So, the peacock! How’d that come up?”
“Well,“ Pinkie explained, “after Dash was insistent I dig a little deeper for her—”
“That’s more like it,” Applejack muttered under her breath.
“We came across this tradition known as the vow of the peacock.”
“Basically,” Rainbow Dash added, leaning down to the bird, “it’s a lost tradition where, at midnight, we all make a vow and a wish on this guy, and it will bring us good fortune in the new year.”
Twilight was already tapping onto her phone again.
“So you stol—”
“Borrowed,” Pinkie reminded.
“Sure,” Sunset gritted her teeth, “for someone old lost human tradition?”
“Yes.” Rainbow Dash said proudly, stepping back at Sunset’s advanced. “Hey, come on, Sunny, after the year we’ve had, I figured a little extra luck with all our various adventures wouldn’t hurt.” Once she was backed up against the wall, she meekly added, “We make our wish, take the vow, return the bird, no one’s the wiser.”
“Um,” Twilight coughed, “I just looked it up. While there is such a tradition, you are aware said traditon involes, um, eating said peacock.”
Rainbow’s eyes widened and laughed nervously. “Well, how’d we miss that?” she said turning to Pinkie.
Pinkie held her hands behind her back and looked around the room. Eventually glancing at the peacock, who Fluttershy had dropped to the floor next to it in a defensive position. “So, um…Anyone want dibs on the wings?” Pinkie Pie asked.
“NO!” half the room shouted.
Pinkie’s hair flattened.
“Alright, well, we had our fun, but,” Sunset said, grabbing Pinkie’s and Rainbows Arms, dragging them to the door, “time to take our ‘special’ party guest home, NOW!”
“Well, actually,” Rarity added,twirling her hair with a finger. “If it’s only a few hours to midnight, and it’s already here, so…”
Sunset started. “You’re not serious are you?”
“I don't’ mean we eat the poor thing of course!” Rarity added, sitting next to Fluttershy, who had pulled the bird into a hug. “But, I must say, this vow of chivalry, good luck, has me intrigued.” She rap a finger to a chin and studied the peacock feather pattern. “Also, I’m getting some inspirations for my spring line and wouldn’t want to leave our guest out in the cold.” She hummed happily and moved over to examine the birds feathers.
“Well, i still want to skin Rainbow Dash when this is over,” Applejack added, “but, I mean, we already have a plan to safely return it.”
‘And, um,” Fluttershy added.
“Not you too, Shy!” Sunset moaned
“Um, well,” Fluttershy continued, “the zoo’s closed, and we wouldn’t be able to get Jeffery safely home until morning.”
Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Jeffery?”
Fluttershy shrank into Jeffery’s feathers. ‘Well, um, I just though, a name would be nice.”
Twilight Sparkle fell onto the couch. “You know, why the hell not?! Next to what we’ve been through all year, a silly little thing like this with your best friends on the edge of the new year is rather relaxing.” She cupped her hands and added, “I guess I could spend the time coming up with decent colleges who will take juvie kids.” she cackled again.
Sunset gave Twilight a symposetic frown.
“See, sunny!” Pinkie cheered, “everyone else is on board.”
Sunset’s eye started to twitch. Something she may of had to look at in the morning. Still, Fluttershy had a good point. If they tried to return the bird tonight, they’d either have to leave it out front in the freezing cold of the animal shelter, or would have to sneak it back into the zoo, risking getting caught in the process. The simplest solution was to hold onto the pea… Jeffery, until morning. Say they found it in the backyard, took it in knowing no one could help them with it being new years eve, and use Fluttershy’s influences with Canterlot’s animal community to backup said story.
That didn’t mean she have to like the idea, or let Pinkie and Rainbow Dash off the hook so easily.
“Fine,” Sunset sighed. “We’ll keep it, for tonight, do this vow of the peacock, then return it first thing in the morning, as soon as when we can. Got it?”
“Ya!” Pinkie cheered hugging Jeffrey. “This is going to be so much fun.”
Sunset sat down on the sofa next to Twilight and shook her head. “Just so long as it doesn't…” Sunset's eyes widened, as Jeffery did just the thing she had about to say on her carpet.
*****
Half an hour later, after a fierce cleaning session and setting up a pin area for Jeffrey on the title floor of the kitchen, the party resumed. Each girl having their own thing to pass the time with each other. If it wasn’t games, it was eating something Pinkie or AJ brought for food, getting manicures by Rarity, hanging out with Jeffery, or just by sitting back, relaxing, and reflecting on the old year and all it’s crazy adventures (kidnapping Jeffory to borrow not included).
Fifteen minutes till midnight, Sunset had another glass of punch, sat on the couch, watching the other girls play pin the tail on the pony while Jeffery ate some sunflower seeds. Despite the annoyance, she couldn’t say she was having a bad time. Though it wasn’t until Twilight pointed it out did she realizing she had been smiling.
“How can you just be so happy about this!” Twilight asked, still in her fetal position. “We could probably go to jail because our idiot friends stole a bird!”
Sunset blinked and looked to Twilight. Who had gone from reading something on her phone to adjusting your glasses.
“I never said I wouldn’t get them back for this.” she winced when something crashed, and looked to see Rainbow Dash knocking over a glass cup in her quest for the ponies behind.
“Sorry, Sunny!” Dash apologized as she continued to feel around the air, still blindfolded.
“You will be!” Sunset hissed, before smiling and going back to her drink.
“I mean, like that?!” Twilight pointed out. “How can you just go from being upset at friends and then be all over it.” Twilight looked away.
Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Well… I guess, it’s… Huh, you know, it does sound complicated.”
Twilight chuckled. “Sometimes makes me think life be simpler without any frien…” she cut herself off before realizing she had said that outloud. “No! I didn’t mean—”
Instead of freaking out, Sunset sighed and placed her cup down. “Hey, I feel ya. I had the same mindset when first coming here. Seeing friend’s and people as just a nuisances who stood in your way, hold you back because you have ‘share and consider’ their needs, and get in your face when you honestly just want a quiet night alone.”
Twilight stretched her legs out and sat up. “Yeah… But I also had no one to talk to when I felt lonely. I guess it’s a primal thing with how humans, and I suppose ponies, are social animals by nature..”
Sunset’s lips curled upwards. “You know those same studies would also tell you that getting into a little trouble now and then can actually be healthy?”
Twilight wrinkled her nose. “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t heard that somewhere.” she pushed in her glasses. “But I think we’ve had enough trouble on a daily basis for a lifetime without adding this is.”
They glanced to Jeffery, who had turned at just the right moment to smak Rainbow Dash in the face with his feathers. The rainbow haired teen fumbled backwards into their ice bucket. She then shot upwords, howling in pain.
Everyone started to laugh, including Twilight and Sunset, who had to laugh into each other for support.
“Well,” sunset added, looking at the clock, 11:57, “I guess it is the little things that makes friends and life worth living.” she took Twilight's hand. “And i suppose another year of it won’t kill us, so let’s just flow with it.”
Twilight blushed. ‘Yeah… it’s worth it… even if it ends me up in community college.”
Fluttershy, having overheard, added in, “Oh it’s not so bad. The classes are small, cheap, and they have free popcorn in the lounge.”
“Well thanks, Shy, I…” she gave her a nervous glare. “Just how do you know that?”
*****
12:01, the new year had come. By then, each girl had made a vow and wish to the Jeffery.
“And to make the best sunday ever!” Pinkie continued, “and i promise to uphold my oath to make other smile and use my powers to protect those who can’t.”
“And with that!” Rainbow said, holding up a glass of apple cider (the non-alcoholic kind provided by Applejack) is the end of our old year, and a start to a new one!”
“Cheer’s! The other girls added, clinking their glasses and taking their drinks.
“Yeah, it’s been awesome,” Rainbow continued, leaning down to stroke jeffery’s head. “All we’ve been through a lot with equestria magic, but i wouldn’t trade any of it, because it means we all get to be together in this room at this very moment, better as best friends forever.”
The others all gave various nods of approval as Sunset and Twilight's seemed to have the widest smile.
“And a big thanks to our special guest here,” dash said, giving jeffery head a noogie. “We should totally do this again next year.”
The next thing Rainbow Dash knew, she was pushed out onto the balcony, the slide door closing with a click behind it. “Come on, guys!” Rainbow said, pounding on the door. “I didn’t mean it!” No one answered. “You’re not going to leave me here all night, in the cold… right? Still no answer, although the music inside the house had gotten louder. “At least give me my jacket!!”
Author's Note
What a story looks like when you only have a week to write it XD
