‘’I’m doing errands!’’ Sunset Shimmer groaned as she put her face on the front of a carriage.‘’I’m her errand foal now!’’
‘’Relax, Sunset.’’ A claw rested on the unicorn’s shoulder. ‘’This shows that Princess Celestia has good faith in you to complete this task.’’
‘’Spike, I’m supposed to be her pupil, but stupid me, I’m a gofer!’’ She shouted as she slammed a hoof down. ‘’My talents are supposed to be used for more than just overseeing events!’’
‘’Did you even read anything past that?’’
‘’I didn’t need to,’’ Sunset rolled her eyes at the dragon. ‘’Because as long as I am told what I’ll be doing, that’s all the information I’ll need.’’
Blinking, Spike reread the end of the letter. ‘’It says here that we’re heading to Ponyville and that a far more important task for you is to make some friends.’’
The sheer thought of it made the mare’s eyes twitch as they descended upon the outskirts of the town, The two occupants getting off of the carriage with Sunset not even acknowledging the two guards that transported them there.
‘’What I want is to get this over with and get it over with now.’’ Spotting a pink pony approaching her, Sunset trotted past her, only for the pink pony to gasp and zip away, causing some wind to fly in Sunset and Spike’s faces.
Opening her mouth to yell, she stopped herself, deciding to not want to make a scene. Instead, she merely walked off with Spike to find the next one on the list.
‘’Summer Sun Celebration’s official Overseer’s checklist,’’ Spike said as they walked past a bunch of trees. ‘’Number one. Banquet preparations: Sweet Apple Acres.’’
‘’Yeehaw!’’ A voice shouted as a mare galloped, bucking a tree and causing apples to fall out and into multiple buckets perfectly.
‘’How is that even…?’’ Shaking her head, Sunset walked towards the mare. ‘’Okay, let’s make one thing clear, I am not here to make friends, I’m Sunset Shimmer and-’’
Her hoof was grabbed roughly and shook up and down quickly, irritating her and causing her to glare at the mare.
‘’Well, howdy-doo, Miss Sunset, a pleasure meeting your acquaintance.’’ The mare replied with a smile. ‘’I’m Applejack. We here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do like makin’ new friends!’’
‘’But I’m not here to make-’’
Applejack let her go, Sunset’s arm still shaking as the earth pony winked. ‘’So, what can I do you for?’’
Spike snickered a bit as he grabbed Sunset’s hoof and slowed it down to where she could safely place it on the ground.
‘’Well, before you interrupted me with your greetings and unnecessary friend talk, I was going to say that my assistant and I were here to oversee the Summer Sun Celebration and the first on the list was the food.’’ Sunset raised an eyebrow at Applejack.. ‘’Which I am assuming you’re running.’’
Silence from the earth pony before she nodded and had a smile again. ‘’We sure as sugar are? Would you care to sample some?’’
‘’I have better things to do than sampling, sorry.’’ Sunset walked off, whispering to herself. ‘’Especially since there is something that could prove to be the opportunity to show how important I truly am to the Princess.’’
‘’Sunset…’’ Spike ran up to her. ‘’Come on, you need to at least try to open up just this once.’’
‘’No!’’ She snapped at him. ‘’I was given one goal. Get in, oversee the celebration, get out. And the sooner that’s done, the sooner I can go back to Canterlot and go back to my life.’’
The two continued to walk away from the farm as Applejack watched in confusion and slight irritation.
‘’Okay, Spike, what’s next on the list?’’
‘’Well, food’s all taken care of.’’ He looked at the list with a pencil in his grasp. ‘’Next is weather. There’s supposed to be a Pegasus pony named Rainbow Dash clearing the clouds.’’
Glaring at the clouds in the sky, Sunset scoffed. ‘’Is laziness one of her primary traits?’’
A sudden crash knocked Sunset off of her hooves and into a puddle, causing a growl to come from her as a cyan pegasus looked at her, laughing embarrassingly. ‘’Uh, ‘scuse me?’’
She flew off and brought a cloud over the unicorn, jumping on it repeatedly as water dumped onto Sunset, soaking her mane and causing her to look up. Seeing this, Rainbow tapped her chin. ‘’Oops, I guess I overdid it.’’
‘’You guess?’’
‘’How about this?’’ The pegasus grinned before flying around Sunset to make a tornado. ‘’My very own, patented rain-blow-dry! No, no, don’t thank me.’’
When the tornado vanished, Sunset’s mane was spiked up, including a widow’s peak. This caused both Rainbow and Spike to laugh as Sunset’s horn glowed. ‘’You’re Rainbow Dash, aren’t you? I am Sunset Shimmer and I am here to ask why you’re not clearing the skies!’’
‘’I’m practicing.’’ Rainbow sat back in the cloud, crossing her hooves and relaxing.
‘’For what, exactly?’’
Getting up, she pointed at a sign behind her. ‘’The Wonderbolts!’’
This caused Sunset to burst out laughing, causing both Rainbow and Spike to look at her in confusion. ‘’Oh please! The Wonderbolts would never accept you! You can’t even clear the skies!’’
‘’Oh yeah? I can do it in ten seconds flat!’’
‘’You’re bluffing.’’ Sunset looked at her smugly. There was no way that she could clear the skies around the town in a mere ten seconds.
With a smirk, Rainbow flew around, kicking clouds and dispersing them at a speed which caught the unicorn off guard, Sunset not being able to track her as the cyan pegasus managed to dissipate the last cloud, landing on her hooves and looking at the stunned mare, whose jaw was hung out.
Rainbow laughed, flying up to her, ruffling her mane. ‘’You’re such a laugh, Sunset Shimmer. Can’t wait to hang out some more!’’
The rainbow-maned mare flew off, leaving Sunset’s jaw to be closed by Spike, who could barely hold in another laugh while touching her hair, causing her to swat at him, which he pulled away from.
‘’Let’s just keep moving. This is getting worse every moment I’m here.’’
Author's Note
This chapter is not intended to be a complete knockoff, but more of a launching point for the divergence.
The walk to the town hall was uninteresting at best, Sunset paying little attention to the citizens or buildings, only focusing on going to the hall and ensuring that the decorations are put in order. Despite this momentous occasion, the homes of the townsfolk were surprisingly empty on the decor. The sheer sight of this made the egocentric unicorn snicker.
‘’At least they feel the same way I do about today. Mare in the Moon is supposed to be coming back, but I’m having my time wasted checking the decorations.’’ She rolled her eyes at this. ‘’Speaking of which, I’m guessing that’s the next thing on the checklist?’’
‘’Yup! Next is-’’ Spike looked at the list, but then stopped in his tracks when they got into the center location of Ponyville. ‘’Decorations…’’
‘’I’ve seen better even if it does little somewhat neat.’’
‘’Beautiful…’’
‘’I wouldn’t really call it-’’
‘’Not the decor!’’ He interrupted, pointing to a white mare levitating strings and ribbons around her while saying ‘no’ frustratingly. ‘’Her!’’
Following the gesture of the baby dragon, Sunset looked in confusion as she saw the mare, trotting towards her with Spike spinning his tail like a propeller. ‘’Good afternoon. I am Sunset Shimmer and I.’’
‘’Just a moment, please! I’m ‘in the zone’, as it were. Oh yes!’’ She said in a voice that made Spike’s heart soar. ‘’Sparkle always does the trick, does it not? Why, Rarity you are a talent.’’
‘’Now, um, how can I help yo-’’ Rarity’, as her name was, looked over to Sunset and quickly screamed in horror, leading to Sunset looking behind her in a feeling of danger. However, her head was grabbed and face directed at Rarity. ‘’Whatever happened to your coiffure?!’’
‘’My ‘coiffure’ was ruined by a pegasus clumsily crashing into me.’’ Sunset huffed while pushing her away.
‘’Well, that just won’t do!’’ Going around Sunset, she pushed her towards the back. ‘’Come along, we have a mane to fix!’’
‘’Wait, what? No, I can fix it on my own!’’ She tried to stop herself, but it was no use. Rarity just pushed her. ‘’NO!’’
And so they went, Rarity trying various outfits and mane styles on Sunset as the latter grew more and more annoyed. From green and yellow to poofy and shiny, the fashionista did everything she could to ‘fix’ her.
‘’Okay, okay.’’ Using her magic, Sunset got the dress off. ‘’I get it, you love fashion and you have the decorating under control, now can you please just back off?’’
‘’Well, you don’t have to be so rude about it.’’ Rarity turned around and started pushing different materials inside of the drawers. ‘’Now, where are you from, my dear?’’
‘’None of your business.’’ She tried saying, but was stopped from Spike getting in front of her.
‘’We’re from Canterlot!’’
‘’CANTERLOT?!’’ Rarity squealed as she bolted over with glistening eyes and a happy smile. ‘’Oh, I am so envious!’’
‘’Seriously, Spike?’’ Sunset snarled at Spike slightly, who chuckled nervously.
‘’The glamour, the sophistication! I have always dreamed of living there! ‘’ Rarity clapped her hooves together and patted the head of her unicorn guest. ‘’I can’t wait to hear all about it! We’re going to be the best of friends, you and I..’’
‘’Friends? I don’t do friends.’’ Celestia’s pupil spat as Rarity galloped away, doing so after looking at something on her. ‘’Wait, what are you-’’
‘’Emeralds?!’’ Rarity shouted in panic. ‘’What was I thinking? Let me get you some rubies!’’
‘’Yeah, no.’’ Sunset lifted a sighing Spike onto her back and left the building before anything else could happen.
‘’Wasn’t she wonderful?’’
‘’Focus, Spike.’’ Sunset snapped. ‘’What’s next on the list for this? And hopefully, it’s the last.’’
Clearing his throat, Spike read up. ‘’Oh, uh, music! That’s the last one!’’
‘’Finally!’’
The sound of singing made them look at a yellow pegasus pony with a pink mane. This pegasus in particular seemed more peaceful than the one encountered earlier as she spoke quietly to a choir of birds.
‘’Oh my. Um, stop please, everyone, umm.’’ The pegasus looked at a blue bird. ‘’Excuse me sir?’’
As Sunset and Spike looked at each other, they began to approach the quiet pegasus.
‘’I mean no offense, but your rhythm is just a teeny-tiny bit off.’’ She flew away from the birds silently before extending a hoof. ‘’Now, follow me, please. A-one, a-two, a-one two three-’’
‘’HEY!’’ Sunset shouted, scaring the birds off as the pegasus yelped and looked at her, ears drooping slightly. ‘’Are you the one for the music?’’
No response.
‘’Hello? Can you hear me?’’ The unicorn asked again, her tone lowering slightly, but a minor change. However, this also failed to get a response out of the pegasus. ‘’Okay, that didn’t work. I’m Sunset Shimmer and I am here to observe the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration.’’
The very words she spoke resurfaced the anger she had, but she’d rather not show it here. If she wants to get answers out of this pegasus, it would be best not to overly shout or vent in front of her, especially when she’s supposed to be getting a job done.
‘’I’m...Fluttershy…’’ The pegasus finally said quietly, so quietly Sunset couldn’t understand her.
‘’...I’m sorry?’’
‘’Um...my name is Fluttershy.’’ She said again, even more quietly. This baffled Sunset as it seemed she was getting more quiet with each response she gave the mare.
‘’One more time, please..’’
The next response came out as more of squeaks if anything, causing Sunset to groan in annoyance and trot over to Spike. ‘’Spike, the music is settled, let’s go.’’
With a shrug, he started following, only for the pegasus to spot him and gasp.
‘’A baby dragon!’’ She shouted in amazement before bolting over to the two, knocking Sunset over and sending her flying into a bush. ‘’Oh, I’ve never seen a baby dragon before. He’s so cute!’’
‘’Uh….’’ Spike stepped back a bit., looking at a dazed Sunset, the orange unicorn groaning.
‘’Oh my, did I scare you?’’ Her smile quickly gave way to a look of guilty. ‘’I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean-’’
‘’Okay, time to go!’’ The baby dragon was wrapped in blue magic and put on Sunset’s back again. ‘’Spike, say goodbye, we’re heading to the library and now!’’
‘’But Sunset-’’
‘’No buts!’’ A snap from the unicorn, who started heading off.
‘’Okay...I’m Spike.’’ Spike sighed and shrugged at the pegasus.
‘’Hi Spike. I’m Fluttershy.’’ Fluttershy cooed. ‘’Wow, a talking dragon! And what do dragons talk about?’’
‘’Well, uh, what do you want to know?’’
‘’Absolutely everything.’’ This response made Sunset speed up.
‘’No, not dealing with that.’’ She galloped away, wanting to get as far from Fluttershy as she could.
Getting inside, Sunset bucked the door in Fluttershy’s face, causing her to yelp and fall down as Sunset breathed in satisfaction. ‘’Peace and quiet.’’
‘’That wasn’t really needed.’’ Spike hopped off as they looked around.
‘’Nightmare Moon is returning and we have to prepare for her return, now where’s that light switch?’’ However, Sunset’s question was answered, the room full of everypony from the town. ‘’Huh?!’’
With all the ponies shouting ‘SURPRISE’, Sunset’s ears flattened.
‘’Oh no…’’
