Paying it Forward

“Wait!” Sunset managed to yell out between gasps of air, her hand outstretched towards the fleeing forms of the Sirens. “Please, wait!”

They vanished around the corner and out onto the street, Sunset struggling to keep her legs going, still unsure as to why she was pursuing the three Equestrians who had just come so close to taking over the school. Maybe it was because she was in such a similar situation just at the start of the previous month, maybe it was the faintest of hoped that they would listen to her. Or maybe it was because of the tears that had started to flow from the cyan coloured one’s eyes.

“D-Damnit…!” the amber girl bent over, resting on her knees as she looked around the street, trying her best to see any sort of remnant of the three’s passing. “H-Hey! Hey you! Did you see three girls come running through here?”

Sunset cursed as the man shook his head, her hand wiping away at the sweat on her brow. She looked around, desperately trying to see something, anything, that hinted at the trio’s passing. Her hands raked through her hair as she stood up fully, cursing one last time before looking down at her pocket, the pouch vibrating.

“Dash?” Sunset said, looking around before grumbling as she leaned back against the wall of the red building.

“I will never get used to these little devices!” Sunset couldn’t help but chuckle as she heard Princess Twilight start to speak on the other end, before it started to grow slightly fainter. “Back in Equestria we have to rely on letters and-”

“Hey, Twilight? Whatcha need?” Sunset smirked as she heard her fellow Equestrian start fumbling around the borrowed device.

“Waah! E-E-Everything’s fine! I got it! Umm, S-Sunset? Can you hear me?” the Princess sounded faint on the other end of the phone, as if she were a mile away from the phone.

“You’re speaking into the wrong end, you dork!” Rainbow Dash could be heard over a chorus of laughter on the other end, Princess Twilight giving a small, embarrassed sound before she started speaking again, much clearer this time.

“Sunset? Are you still there?” the Alicorn asked, Sunset physically hearing the blush on the girl’s face from the tone of her voice.

“Yup, I’m here. Whatcha need?”

“Well, um, where are you? You ran off after the Sirens and everybody is a little worried.”

“Oh, um, I’m not that far actually…” Sunset paused as she looked around the street one last time before sighing audibly. “I was hoping to find them but they seemed to have vanished. I’ll be right back.”

Sunset didn’t wait for a response before ending the call, slipping her phone down into her pocket. At least the Pony Up’d state had dissipated while she was chasing the Sirens, that would have been really awkward to try and explain to people.

She started on her way back to the school, shaking her head slightly due to her troubling thoughts. Just why was it that she ran after those three? Sure, they looked sad when they lost, absolutely devastated when they couldn’t sing, but they were Equestrian monsters! They had threatened Equestria, and Sunset had the feeling that they had been sowing conflict in this world for a long time as well.

She sighed once again as she stuffed her hands into her pockets as she made her way down the street, doing her best to both ignore the crowd and to not run into it.

~

“Sunset, yer back!” Applejack was the first to catch sign of the amber skinned Equestrian, alerting the rest of the Rainbooms to the returning girl.

“Why’d you run off like that?” Rainbow shouted, a confused smirk on her face.

“I, uh… I actually don’t know to be honest.” Sunset gave an uneasy shrug of her shoulders as she stopped in front of the bandmates. “Sorry about that.”

“Well, they may have gotten away for now, but I bet that now that they have lost their pendants they should be no different than you girls.” Princess Twilight looked around at the group with a warm smile of accomplishment. “Canterlot High School should be safe once again.”

“And we have you to thank, darling.” Rarity said, motioning to Sunset with a warm smile.

“Yeah, who knows what those meanies would have done if Sunset hadn’t stepped in!” Pinkie Pie bounced around, emoting enthusiastically with every syllable.

The six girls around her continued to thank Sunset, making it the amber teens turn to blush as she was showered in praise and recognition, the other students of the school slowly joining in once they realized Sunset was back.

It even got to the point that Bulk had walked over and hefted Sunset up, resting her on his broad shoulders as he paraded her proudly around the school grounds, ignoring Sunset’s pleas to be put down. Everybody was thanking her, and Sunset was going mute trying to tell everyone that she didn’t need any praise.

~

“What the hell just happened, Adagio!” Aria Blaze demanded as the trio stumbled into their residence, the pigtailed Siren turning around and jabbing a finger into her leaders chest.

“I’m telling you that I don’t know you imbecile!” the yellow hued Equestrian responded, swatting away the invading extremity. “All I know is that you two just ruined everything!”

The two ego driven Sirens continued to bicker and fight as Sonata Dusk softly shut the door behind them, before stealthily retreating to the kitchen. She was just as shaken as the other two at their loss and subsequent destruction of their pendants, but like always she would hide off to the side while those fought. Right now she was focused on making drinks for everyone, hoping that it would calm her two sisters down.

“Of course it was Equestrian magic you dumb bitch!” Sonata ducked as she heard something shatter against the wall from near the living room, Adagio’s harsh tones carrying powerfully through the otherwise empty halls of the house.

She gave a small sigh, dreading what may happen over the next few days.