Author's Note

Too Close To The Sun...

I apologize as this chapter is not yet edited.

III - Know Thy Sol (TBR)

Utterly ridiculous, Noah thought. After packing for the sleepover and assessing his current situation, and deciding whether or not to use an inhumane way to solve it, Noah was finally prepared to head over to Pinkie Pie's house.

Without a doubt in his mind, Noah didn't want to go, but something inside told him he'd regret it if he didn't, in more than one way as well.

He entered his garage, his Audi, and then opened the garage door with the push of a button. Once the car's engine was ignited, Noah drove out of the garage and began down the street.

"I wonder what this will be like, I've never gone to a sleepover with all girls, ” he wondered aloud.

After thinking up ideas to do at the sleepover, ruinous ideas, Noah opened the center console armrest and pulled out an old CD album.

The cover showed a black baby boy with an afro sitting in what appeared to be white nothingness, it read, "readytodie." Noah opened the album and slipped it into the center console's CD player, he whispered, "It was all a dream, wasn’t it?”

Almost like the day was on repeat, Noah sighted Sunset on the left sidewalk carrying her book bag on her back and texting on her phone. Practically by instinct, Noah steered to the left and approached her. He rolled down his window and asked, "Going somewhere?"

Sunset looked up from her phone to see Noah resting his head on his palm as his arm stood on the window frame. "Yeah, why do you ask? Aren't you going too?”

Noah looked up at the sky, "I am, I guess. As a matter of fact, I don't even know why I asked. Guess that was my dumbass act of the day." Sunset tilted her head, "Dumb act of the day?" Noah answered, "Yep, been doing it since day one.”

Noah eyed Sunset, she clearly wasn't tired, but Noah was feeling gracious at the moment. Or more unknowingly, looking at her.

"You want a ride, half-bitch? I'd be able to oblige." Sunset showed the same face she did when he asked her that same question this morning, she questioned, "I get why you'd ask me that this morning, but why now? Don't you hate me?"

"Oh I do, but I want a full audience immediately for when I kick ass on Pinkie's gaming system. It'll be fuckin' laughable." Sunset looked away, she then texted the girls she'd be there sooner than expected, Pinkie replied with a thousand happy emojis. "Okay, no reason in turning down an offer after all," Sunset said as she strolled over to the passenger side of the supercar and entered.

She turned to Noah who was currently texting on his phone, "So, are we gonna go now or?" Noah turned his head, "Don't rush me damn it, we've more than enough time. As a matter of fact, strap yourself in, we're hauling ass."

Once he finished speaking, Noah opened the center console armrest, grabbed a key from the compartment above the armrest, stuck the key into the keyhole in the armrest, and twisted it to the right. "What did that do?" Sunset asked and Noah answered, "That just disabled the car's street-legal limit, meaning it can go as fast as it can now instead of normal public road speeds." Sunset asked again, "And how fast is tha-”

"Two hundred and five miles-per-hour.”

Hearing this, Sunset scrambled to strap on her seatbelt and grabbed the roof handle to her right with both hands, "Are you insane?! You're gonna crash without a doubt! Just because you have a fast car doesn't mean you go off the deep end with it!" Sunset screamed, her face flaring with fear.

Noah turned to Sunset once again and replied, "Sunset, there are two kinds of people in this world with fast cars: Prosperous niggas, and skilled drivers." This caught Sunset's attention, as her grip loosened on the handle.

Noah continued, "A while back, say, four years ago, there was this event in Great Britain called the Horizon Festival. My family went to Great Britain, but they didn't participate because they had bigger things to do, not me though.”

”When we were passing by the main site, I saw that they were giving away this very car we sit in for free to whoever could win a series of races. Long story short, I snuck out of our rented house, lied about my age, took part in the races, and won with my Dad's car, a 2017 Chevy Impala.”

”They couldn't believe it when they saw this sexy motherfucker in the driveway. I got to keep it, and I gave my parents and older sister the prize money since all I wanted was the car. Of course, I needed to be much older if I really wanted to drive it."

Noah turned to Sunset intending to continue, but he realized she had gotten close as he told his story. Her hands were now gripping the bottom of the seat, and she was leaning towards him, close enough that he could feel her quiet breaths.

"Nigga, I'm gonna have to ask you to back the fuck up," Noah requested. Sunset zoned back and realized how close she was, she moved back into her seat and apologized.

"So, you're basically saying we'll be fine?" Sunset questioned, and Noah answered, "Yes, half-bitch, that's what I'm saying."

Without warning, Noah stomped on the acceleration pedal, and the car advanced forward with ease. Sunset screeched, crumpled into a ball in her seat, and grabbed the roof handle with both hands. The car was remarkably deafening as it sped down the street at its incredible speed.

"Oh my gosh! This is nuts! Absolutely nuts!" Sunset screamed, and Noah replied, "Oh, grow some balls and enjoy the ride you pussy!"

It'd been less than five minutes when Noah and Sunset arrived at Pinkie's house. "See? Wasn't that fun?" Noah questioned Sunset as she trembled with fear. She slowly and carefully exited the speed demon and laid on the floor in fear, muttering to herself like a mental hospital patient.

Noah walked over to the petrified Sunset and spoke, "Negro, get off the damn floor. You're being overdramatic." Sunset gently stood up off the floor and replied while holding herself, "O-Overdramatic? A-Are you s-serious? T-That type of s-speed m-may be normal to you, b-but to a normal p-person, t-that was... insane!"

Noah rolled his eyes, "Yeah, whatever ya bum. Now get switched up, we've got a slumber party to attend." Noah stepped behind Sunset as he spoke and urged her to start moving by pushing her forward. She responded by steadily sauntering to the front door of Pinkie's house.

As Noah was just about to knock, the door flung open to reveal Pinkie standing with an excited grin on her face. "Hey guys! I'm sooo happy to see you've made it!" Noah stood back to keep his distance from the energetic Pinkie, while Sunset embraced Pinkie with a hug.

I swear, she must be on fuckin' cocaine, Noah thought.

"You guys can take a seat on the couch and get ready for the best, most awesomest, sleepover ever!" Pinkie spoke, "Pretty damn sure “awesomest” isn't a word," Noah replied, but not loud enough for Pinkie to hear.

He and Sunset proceeded to take a seat next to each other on the loveseat. "Why are you next to me," Noah questioned, instantly bothered. "The couch is covered with all of Pinkie's stuff, I can't just sit on it," Sunset answered, causing Noah to groan.

The two sat in silence as Pinkie prepped the rest of the house with snacks and such. Noah peered over at Sunset, she was wearing that same leather jacket with a cyan shirt underneath, black slim sweatpants, and simple sneakers.

It seemed that she never took off that jacket. Not once had Noah ever seen her without it, but that was going to change tonight... as in seeing her in bedclothes.

He, on the other hand, was wearing the same clothes from this morning. A white Adidas hoodie, black jeans, and black, white, and red high tops, also from Adidas.

Noah looked up to gaze at Sunset's face to find she was also eyeing him. Then, as Sunset looked up to examine his face, she found him staring at her like she was a crazy woman.

Sunset blushed and quickly blurted out in hopes of not being weird, "What?! D-Don't think I didn't see you checking me out either!" Noah responded, "I wouldn't call it, ’checking out.’ Just pondering why you always wear that same fuckin' jacket."

Sunset gripped at her jacket and replied, "I like this jacket, okay? Is that a crime now?" Noah answered, "No, you just look like some sort of renegade. Which you aren't, you're a half-bitch." Sunset rolled her eyes, "Are you going to do this all night? Because if so, I don't think I'll be getting any sleep."

"Lighten up damn it, I was just fuckin' around," Noah replied. He then went back to eyeing Sunset while she mumbled to herself.

An hour or two had passed, and everyone had settled in Pinkie's bedroom. Fluttershy caressed Spike, like a dog, Pinkie was on her laptop, Rarity and Sunset were conversing, Applejack And Dash were playing an old video game, and Noah laid parallel to Twilight who wrote in a notebook.

"Holy shit, I'm bored," Noah whispered to himself. He sat up and asked Twilight, "Hell are you reading?" She looked up and replied, "I'm not reading, I'm thinking of lyrics for the auditions."

Noah crossed his legs, "You know, you still can just let me take care of them. I will either way so you might as well just give the go ahead." Twilight tilted her head, "What do you mean?"

"Twilight, I've had it up to here with this school," Noah answered whilst sticking his right hand far above his head to prove a point. "All of a sudden, three pricks show up, brainwash the damn school, and now all I'm gonna be hearing is fuckers claiming they're better than me. So give me one damn reason why I can't fuck 'em up."

"Because it's against the rules?" Twilight replied, "Besides, as we said, they're probably immune to your bullets." Noah thought for a moment, "Then I'll just beat the shit out of 'em. If I'm right, and I hopeI am, it’d be fuckin’ sick, this shit in my necklace should give me the ability to do hella badass things. They may be immune to bullets, but what about an electric guitar to their small intestine?"

Twilight cringed, "Goodness, do not do that! I wouldn't do that to my worst enemy!” Noah grinned, "I would, besides, you said it yourself. They caused chaos in your world. They don't deserve the luxury of death."

"That doesn't seem very luxurious to me, and you're kinda starting to creep me out, so let's change the subject! Sunset Shimmer maybe?" Noah casually turned his head to face Twilight and stared like a serial killer, "No."

Twilight snickered, “W-Why not? She may have been corrupted during the Fall Formal and ever since you first met her, but I bet if you give her a chance now, you could become good, or maybe even best, friends. Who knows, Sunset doesn't have a personality that stands out like the girls and I, so I bet that could make even a special relationship work like a charm."

Noah did not respond, he gaped at her with utter bafflement and horror. Not only that, but he was internally screaming, afraid that if he opened his mouth, someone could, no, would go deaf.

"I-I was just messing around! Relax! But seriously, if you demoralize her any further, it could have devastating repercussions," Twilight continued, before returning to her notebook.

Noah perked up to hear Rainbow smacking the video game console, "Hey, I was about to beat ya!" Applejack bemoaned, "Nah, I doubt it," Rainbow replied. "So Twilight," She began, looking up at her, "How's that counterspell comin'?" Twilight grew nervous.

"Huh? Oh, uh, good! Great. Thanks for letting me use your notebook, Fluttershy. I really like the song you wrote for the Rainbooms."

"Thanks," Fluttershy replied, pulling now her stuffed crocodile into a tighter embrace. "Hopefully one day we'll get a chance to play it," she muttered.

Rarity plopped onto the bed, causing Noah to fall on his face next to Sunset. "Goddamn it! What the hell?!" Noah shouted. "Well pardon me, I need to speak with Twilight," Rarity responded. Sunset inspected him, "Are you alright?"

"What do you think?" He replied, annoyed. "Is it so hard to speak to me without anger in your eyes?" Sunset asked, Noah answered, "Why don't you ask Fall?" Sunset shrunk back and held her sides in regret. ''That's what I fuckin' thought."

"Now then, Twilight, I think I speak for all of us when I say: I don't know what we would've done if you hadn't come back to help us." Rarity continued, along with the rest of the girls agreeing.

A moment after, the doorbell rang, "Pizza's here!" Pinkie exclaimed, causing Noah to shoot up, "Do they have wings? Did you order fuckin' wings!?" Pinkie nodded so much, it seemed painful. "Fuck yes! Outta my way!" Noah shouted as he ran towards the front door.

When he reached the front door, he swung it open and promptly grabbed the wings on top of the stack of pizzas the delivery man was holding. "Thank you, my nigga," He appreciated before running to the dining room table with the box of fresh hot wings.

While the rest of the girls, except Twilight who stayed upstairs to finish writing, chowed down on delectable slices of the Italian meal, Noah ate away at multiple wings as if he'd been homesick.

A while later though, Sunset sat on the bench nearby and opened her phone. Noah thought for a moment before offering, "You want some? You know, before I eat them all?" Sunset looked up from her phone and at Noah, she answered, ”Well, I don't really eat meats, but thank you for offer-”

"My nigga, what? Who the hell doesn't like meat?" Sunset shrugged and replied, ”Well, since I come from Equestria like Twilight, we typically don't eat meat because... Well, because we don't I guess.”

Noah thought back again before asking, ”Well, what about the pizza, why didn't you have any of that?”

”I don't know, I'm just, not really hungry that right now,” Sunset answered, and Noah once again thought back. ”Why don't you make yourself a PB and J?” Sunset tilted her head, ”Those sandwiches they make in the cafeteria? I mean... Maybe, but I don't know how... Could you maybe, help me?”

”My nigga, it's two slices of bread slathered with either peanut butter or jelly on one side, just do that and put ’em together, I have ’em all the time when I come home from school, it's not goddamn rocket science.”

”Oh, ” Sunset replied, somewhat sad, and entered the kitchen to make the sandwich, of course, she asked Pinkie Pie first.

It was presently nightfall, 10:49 to be exact. Noah sat up, plugged his phone back into his charger, and exited Pinkie's room carefully, stepping on any of the girls made him fear that he'd never get back to sleep.

He entered the kitchen to see Twilight leaving, some pale girl with purple hair feeding crackers to a rock, and Sunset rummaging through the fridge for something. I'm not even gonna ask, Noah thought.

He sat down at the island and questioned, "Is there any seltzer in there? Kinda thirsty, so I'd like a drink." Sunset promptly turned around confused, she didn't notice Noah enter. She looked back at the fridge, there was one more can left.

"Noah, we need to talk," she stated, causing Noah to lose his train of thought on whatever it was he was thinking about. "Talk about what? What do we need to talk about?"

Sunset turned to face Noah completely, "Listen, Noah, I know we have a horrible history, and I know I've done things to your friend, heck, even I'm repulsed at it. But I think if we're going to work together to stop the Sirens and repair your necklace, we, well, you, need to put the past where it belongs, in the past. I desperately want to make it up to everyone I've hurt, that includes you and your friends, but like someone special once told me, it's best to begin with the unbreakable."

Noah stared at Sunset, he wasn't exactly sure how to respond. He thought long and hard before eventually replying, "If I do this, I have your word that you'll make amends, indubitably?" Sunset slowly nodded, "It's the right thing to do." Noah stood up, he stared once again, considering her thought intensely.

He grinned, "Alright half-bitch, we'll stop these fuck-nuts, and you'll walk away redeemed, if that's what you want." Sunset smiled, "Without a doubt. Oh, by the way," she replied, twisting on her heels to face the fridge.

"Here's that seltzer you asked for, it's HeTap." Noah leaped upon the table and landed on his stomach, "Hell yeah! Give me that shit!" Sunset took a step back so she wasn't hit, once he had landed, she handed him the can, a bit shook.

Noah sat up on the table with his legs hanging off the side of the table, opened the can, and chugged down the carbonated water. Sunset began to leave before Noah called out, "Oi, tell me, what the hell is this, Equestria, you and Twilight have spoken of? I'm unusually curious." Sunset unhesitantly whipped around and hopped onto the table next to Noah.

"Equestria is this astonishing world packed to the brim of various creatures! I grew up there as a unicorn and lived in this gorgeous and fascinating city called Canterlot!-" Noah put a finger to Sunset's lips, "Negro, please, slow the fuck down. I don't need your damn backstory, just tell me about the planet as a whole."

"Well, Equestria is a kingdom, not a planet," Sunset answered, and Noah replied, "Kingdom? What, like, medieval shit?" Sunset nodded, "That's probably hella gay. You may not think so, but a federal system is much better than a fuckin' kingdom. Wouldn't someone get apprehended for calling the king or a queen a piece of shit in this kingdom?"

"No, it's not that strict," Sunset answered. "Okay, so, who's the king or queen of this kingdom?"

"Well, actually, Equestria doesn't have a king or queen. It has two princesses." Noah itched his head with one finger, "Wait a minute, wouldn't that make it a princessdom? Because I'm pretty sure princesses can't rule a kingdom."

"Well you see... uh... well... I've actually never even thought about that. Actually, I don't think anyone has thought about that," Sunset answered, and Noah responded, "So you're telling me, nobody has ever questioned why they're being ruled by the children of the king and queen? It sounds a lot like your entire country is fuckin' retarded."

"Noah! That's offensive, Don't say that!" Noah rolled his eyes, "Fine, let me reiterate, ''It sounds like your entire country is fuckin' slow'', better?" Sunset then rolled her eyes, "Not even close, but you don't care, do you?"

"Can we get back to your country? How long has this shit been going on?" Noah asked, and Sunset answered, "I'm not sure, ten thousand years?" Noah crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, "You're telling me your nation has lived under near centuries of princesses and princes, and never once considered why they weren't kings or queens?"

"Well, there's only been two princesses in that period of time," Sunset answered, and Noah's face contorted into unadulterated stupefaction. "Let me get this shit straight, you're entire fuckin' country has been ruled by two, count 'em, two princesses in the span of a motherfuckin’ myriannum?" Sunset scratched the back of her head, "Well when you say it like that, it sounds silly."

"Yeah, no shit sherlock. Are you telling me these princesses are immortals?" Noah asked, and Sunset answered, "Yep, and you wanna know something else crazy?" Noah raised an eyebrow at her again, "The princesses are the same as the principals from our school, Celestia and Luna!"

Noah spit out the seltzer he was sipping and grabbed Sunset's shoulders in disbelief, unintentionally pulling her close "Hold the goddamn phone, Principal White Shaq and Blueface are fuckin' princesses?! You've gotta be shitting me!"

"Nope," Sunset replied, oblivious to how close she now was with him, "I'm telling the truth, one hundred percent." Noah let go of Sunset and held his head with both hands, "That's crazy, what the actual fuck."

"Another thing about Equestria is that it's basically a parallel world to this one. The only difference here is that it's in the Modern Ages while Equestria is in the Middle Ages... kinda."

Noah let go of his head, "So, there's a version of yours truly over there?" Sunset nodded. "Interesting, not gonna lie at all," Noah replied. Sunset crossed her legs, "So, tell me about you! I know that you aren't from this country, so learning about you should be even more interesting."

"Me? Well shit, I don't know where to start." Noah thought for a moment, "Well, I was born on September 25th, 2003 in East Duggensville, Pennsylvania. My family was the Christians, I changed my last name when I got here if you're wondering.

My family consisted of my mother: Allison Christian, my father: William Christian, my elder brother: Nicholas Christian, my older sister: Nia Christian, my older brother: Nolan Christian, My younger sister: Noelle Christian, and my grandmother: Lydia Garnett.

We were a very nice and loving family, a little rough around the edges with my younger sister becoming a teen, but we prevailed regardless.

Unlike your world being full of magic and shit, the only magic we, and the entirety of the planet that you've never seen, have ever had is science and illusions.

The lives of my people are pleasant and delightful, but they can become the coldest thing we've ever experienced with a single word or action. Sadly, there's more bad than good where I come from, horrible things that still go on to this day that I pray you never have to experience.

Actually, define terrorism." Sunset cocked her head, "Terrorism? I...I don't think I've ever heard of that word before." Noah smiled, "Good, hopefully, you should never have to know what it is, or experience it. You see Sunset, my part of the world is packed to the brim of despicable people, and judging from what you've said, I'm guessing you only have a handful.”

Sunset nodded, "Yeah, I guess my world is heaven compared to yours. Now I'm not sure if I ever want to se-"

"Don't," Noah cut off, "Never, leave this country, ever. There are some things in life that nobody should ever have to see, including your people." Sunset looked down, "Oh... I didn't know it was that bad," Noah crossed his arms, "You'd be surprised, kid."

"Kid?" Sunset looked back at Noah, confused, "I'm the same age as you! As a matter of fact, I'm older than you! I was born on June 16th, 2002, so why the heck are you calling me a kid?!"

"Nigga calm your tits," Noah replied, and Sunset blushed, "It's just an old nickname that I called girls who were my friends, and since most of my friends are dudes, I haven't called anybody that in a long time." Sunset rubbed the back of her neck, "Oh..." She then perked up again, "We're friends?! Yes! And all it took was plain and simple small talk."

"Yeah, sure, half-bitch," Noah replied, causing Sunset to groan in annoyance. "Alright, I'm gonna take a piss and go to bed. Nice talking to ya half-bitch," Noah spoke before hopping off the island and leaving the kitchen for the bathroom.

Progress, Sunset thought, indisputable progress.

(Please leave a comment. I enjoy reading what you have to say.)