Sunsets Wild Ride

Chapters

Ch.1 The unfortunate beginning
Ch.2 The beginning of something new
Ch.3 New friends
Ch.4 Easing into things
Ch.5 Hitting the windshield

Ch.1 The unfortunate beginning

It was a stormy night in Canterlot and it was silent in the royal castle. Everypony was in their rooms and all guards were in their positions for the night. The night shift had started a while ago and as the guards did their shift change that was when Sunset made her move. Sunset moved quickly using a stealth charm for her move into the castle.

She had been Celestia’s pupil and relished every moment of it till a few months back when she felt she was ready for more advanced teachings, Celestia shut her down quick. She even went so far as to try and teach herself through some of the books in the library but went too far when she dipped into the forbidden section of the library. Celestia was furious when she found out by walking on her performing a forbidden time manipulation spell. The princess’s anger was something to behold as she sent a bolt of lightning towards Sunset to stop her.

This injured Sunset and left her broken in more places than one. She was immediately removed from the premises and taken to a nearby hospital where she was informed that she was no longer to be under the tutelage of Celestia. It was two blue stallions wearing armor that came to the hospital to inform Sunset, it didn’t make it better that they came to dump her belongings from the castle there into the hospital room. Before they left, they warned her that of she was to pursue
dangerous magic that there would be legal ramifications. All this was so sudden and left Sunset in shock.

She had been Celestia’s star pupil and wanted and had done nothing but did her best to stay on top of every other pupil in the program. It was her whole life and now it had all come down to her being kicked out of the castle and from Celestia’s side. What was worse was that Celestia had really given it to her when stopping her from performing the spell to completion. She was burnt all over and couldn’t feel her left side of her body.

After the ordeal in the castles forbidden section of the library, it took Sunny weeks to recover and even then she still didn’t have complete control over her left front hoof. She the days all melted together into one as they moved along with her therapy going on side by side. She had found out that her recovery was being paid for by the royal foundation which was just Celestia’s private funding organization. This should have been an olive branch meant to let Sunset know she wasn’t hated or despised but she didn’t see it that way. She saw it as a slap to the face.

She took her therapy in stride but as the days moved along Sunset began to become more and more bitter. Bitter at the fact she was booted from Celestia’s program, bitter at her broken body, bitter that the world kept moving as far as she was concerned. This stewed in her soul till all she could see was nothing but vengeance. At first, she just wanted to lash out but after catching her breath from being so angry she settled on stealing some forbidden books from the royal library. Some real juicy tomes that held gateways to knowledge she only toyed with in her wildest dreams.

The royal library’s forbidden section was known to have some books written by ancient ponies, long lost arts subjects that were deemed too radical by the powers to be, or so the legends went. Sunny knew first hand that the legends were true from what she initially saw in her time in there before being blasted to kingdom come. Sunset spent her days plotting non stop as she gathered her materials and strength.

From what she knew already she knew how to expand her powers but only so far so she needed some more help. That’s when she went to the local underworld of Canterlot to find the knowledge the required. She had found a mare willing to teach her special item morphing meditation that helped her gather her magical strength. It was an exercise that she used day in and out. She would sit in her dilapidated lodgings concentrating her focal point as she morphed a cup into several different cups as she breathed slowly. This went one till she could perform a lot of spell with easy. By the time she knew it she was teleporting and stunning passersby’s at random.

She soon felt she was ready to infiltrate the royal library and get what she was after. If she couldn’t rise to greatness the official way then she was just going to take that right for herself. She was friends with a lot of the staff of the castle and new their comings and goings. She would usually be in the kitchen in her spare time munching away with the castle help on her time in between classes and before bed time. She especially knew about what the procedure was when it came to the night shift as she would often sneak out of her room at night to venture to either the kitchen or the library.

She was no stranger to the kitchen late at night and that gave her an advantage as she would often hide and steal pies slices as the kitchen staff cleaned up and let in the night shift guard to have a meal. And that guard eating his usual nightly meal was her way in. In the back near the giant freezer there was a door to the outside that a guard stood outside of all night. This guard would enter and have a quick meal before going to stand at attention outside the kitchen back entrance.
On the night Sunset would go inside and get her prize she stood behind a giant cart of supplies that had a giant tarp over it. She stood there and waited for the shift change to happen as she stared at the stallion standing at attention.
“Cmon, hurry up already! This guy’s late!” Sunset said under her breath as she was getting annoyed.

It had started to rain and it really picked up leaving Sunset getting soaked even though she brought her cloak with her. Eventually the shift change took place and the next guard came to take his place at the doorway. The stallion nodded to the one he was relieving and then stood at the doorway. The moon was high in the sky and Sunset waited for the ritual to take place as both her and the guard waited for the relieved guard to finally get out of ear shot and view.

Once the other guard had left completely Sunset moved her attention to the stallion standing there in his armor. It wasn’t long till the guard looked back and forth and then turned to knock three times back entrance door. After a little waiting, someone from the kitchen staff came and opened up the door. The kitchen stallion was a grey stallion wearing an apron.

“Right on time Carl, I was worried you were not gonna show, finally! Thought you would be halfway across town chasing that mare your so found of! HAhaha!!” the guard said as he laughed at the kitchen stallion who looked unamused.

“Just get in here and eat your soup already” the kitchen stallion said as he ushered the guard in with his hoof.
“Oh, it’s soup tonight! Can’t wait!” the guard said as he made his way inside.

Sunset saw this and after a little while made her way to the closed kitchen back door and put her ear to the door. She whispered a spell and conjured up a concentrated hearing spell that enveloped her ear and increased the volume in which she could hear inside through the door. She held her position as she tried to distinguish the two stallions in the kitchen.
Once located she listened for the familiar clatter of plates and silverware as the kitchen stallion fixed up the guard his soup. Once the noises hit sunset retracted her ear from the doorway and began to concentrate on the magic required to open the door. It was a tricky spell that required the user to concentrate at the upmost since they slight falter could lead you to start over again. It was a spell that let you see the inner working of the doors lock in your mind and so you had to work the pins in the exact delicate order to open the door without having to start again.

Once Sunset had the door open and heard the pleasing click of the lock opening up to her magical touch did she carefully push the door open with her magic. She saw that the little corridor held no one so she slipped in and closed the door silently behind her. She slithered along in her damp black cloak that obscured her features and came along where the two stallions where around a kitchen counter top. The guard was slurping away at his soup as the kitchen stallion used his magic to keep cleaning the counter tops with a rag. Sunset took this in and sneaked through the shadows around the kitchen using stacked chairs as something to hide behind. Once she was about to leave the kitchen and make her way through an open doorway into the rest of the castle did she stop as she heard the two stallions speak up loudly.
“AAAARGH!!” the guard could be heard yelling.

“What?? What is it??!” the kitchen stallion shouted as he was caught off guard.

“There’s turnips in this!!! I hate turnips blegh!!! The stallion let out.

“You had me worried there ya dumbass! Don’t do that!!” the kitchen stallion responded.

Once Sunset heard it was just something over the soup itself, she moved along in the rest of the castle. She made her way down winding corridors with practiced memory as she knew these passages like they were burned into her mind itself. She made her way this way and that as she tried to stay out of sight from patrolling guards and staff making their way to do their duties. Sunset found it easy enough to stay out of sight as she hid behind the many suits of armor and statues that lined the dimly lit corridors.

Once she was out of the way and into the library where only one guard stood watch did she let down her guard somewhat. She evaded the guard with his lamp once he turned to go towards the fiction section of the library. She made her way to the back end and once again did her magic on the door leading down towards the libraries basement where the good stuff was held. She worked quickly as she could feel her goal within her reach as it was just beyond the staircase down.

Sunset practically flew down the dark staircase with nothing but her horn giving off light. She went so fast that at the end she tripped on her own hooves and fell down the two steps at the bottom. She felt like a fool but picked herself up quickly hoping that no lost ancient ghost saw her fuck up as badly as she did. After dusting herself off she reignited her horn and moved forward to the back wear the caged bookshelves were. Once at the forbidden shelves she looked up and summoned the ladder with her magic as she read the titles in her view.

A tome on each level of time dilation, a book on being blood control, another on light necromancy, it was all here. Sunset was beside herself as she climbed the ladder and looked on at all the forbidden knowledge in front of her. There were books on so many things that were said to be taboo and off limits. Some books even being locked entirely with a latch in front of some of them. Sunset took down many books with her magic and onto the floor. She was ecstatic to be around such literature but got side tracked as she opened one book and started to read from it.

She read and read letting time get away from her as she let the glow from her horn take her away from all the recent pain she had been experiencing.

Author's Note

Lemme know how it goes.

Ch.2 The beginning of something new

The hour was getting late as Sunset poured through the many books at once. She practiced spells on top of spells until she was at her max. When she couldn’t concentrate far enough, she let go of all the spells she had running with the many books hovering in their places. When the books fell and she was able to catch her breath she went over to a table nearby to sit and rest really quick.

As she went over to the table, she put her head down moving several items on top that clattered away loudly. Sunset pointed her horn towards the foreign items and looked them over, seeing that they were various gold and silver coins. There were other items like a ring with an amethyst gem on it, and some little metal statues that looked like animals. Sunset looked at the items with her head on the table slouched over and decided to put them in her satchel. Lucky for her she had brought two very big satchels with her to bring a few things with her.
She thought that if this turned out to be a good run then maybe she would try and come back and get more out since no one ever came down to the forbidden section. She fit all the assorted items in place and then turned to see which books would come with her at the moment. She only had a place for four books and they had to be just right so she layed them all out with her magic.

She saw each one for what it was and decided on the book of dark light and other unseen medleys, the book of unchecked power and its application, the tome of masterful time dilation, and the grimoire of the Hart. These seemed well enough for her for the time being so she tucked them away with care. The time had slipped by her since she was keeping a total and complete mental note of the time since she started. With that in her mind she noted that it was about time to make her masterful exit from the royal castle and into the wild night. She was about to walk up the staircase again when the sound of voices could be heard from up above.

“Are you sure the seal was broken, I don’t wanna go down here for nothing” a voice could be heard saying.
“Ya, the seal went off and it was for this section down here. So, we gotta go, so just shut up and come along” another voice could be heard replying.

Sunset went down and moved towards a pillar that was nearby, she stood there hearing the two guards come down towards her. She was panicking now since it was clear a seal alerted the guards from up top. The seals were in place since ancient times but she never once saw or knew a seal be re done for security measures. She thought they were a thing of pretty much fiction since peace had reigned for so long in the land of Equestria.

The seals should not have been a problem since she was in and around the halls of the castle and not once did any sort of magic be detected by her counter magic, which she had thought top notch. The guards were coming down now and they were almost to the bottom. All her planning had gone to crap and now she was about to be discovered and locked away for breaking into the royal library. This wasn’t good and Sunset knew it as she tried to think of any way to get past the guards. She thought she could use a stealth spell but the breaking of a seal meant all such magic would become useless, this the ancients made sure.

There was nowhere for Sunset to run or go so she was going to try and teleport to at least the top floor of the library so she can try and get away. As she tried to focus on the spell the guards came down and shined a bright light onto her. This threw her off her magic as she stumbled back and into a mirror that had a table next to it with heavy gem stones.
Sunset bumped into the whole thing at once and with the added push of magic, it caused the whole apparatus to go up in light. The table hit her as she hit the mirror, it was all a jumble of noise and light as the last thing she remembered was the light from two guards entering the basement of the library.

The light seemed only to become more intense as all sorts of foreign colors swirled around her and she felt a terrible pain from all over take hold of her. She swirled around in a loop of technicolor insanity as the sounds of nothing was getting only louder. The silence had become deafening and she finally came pouring out of a void. She fell onto a cold hard floor in a pool of sweat and vomit as she heaved and expelled everything she had eaten. She shivered in on the cold floor and looked up into what felt like the sky and let her eyes begin to come to focus.

Once she could see and she could finally breath well did she get up and try to stand. She fell at first and grunted as she fell forwards onto her face. This wasn’t working and she didn’t know why, so she gave it another second before she tried again. This time she was able to get up did she feel the awkwardness of her body. Her hooves felt weird and her back felt hunched, she looked down to find with a shock that her hooves were now hands! She suddenly looked back at where her haunches should be and saw that her back hooves where now feet.

This new form shocked her as she had only seen drawings of it before in books of legends and myth from around Equestria. She tried again to get up this time getting up from being on all fours on the ground. When she was finally up from the floor and on wobbly legs did she realize that her cloak had made it through with her and with the cold breeze she also learned that she was naked.

“Oh crap, I’m naked!” Sunset shouted to herself as she tried to cover herself up in her long black cloak as she pulled it around her.

Something about how the wind hit her made her realize that she was stark naked and it wasn’t a good feeling. She wondered where she was as she looked around and noticed that she was in front of a giant statue of a horse. This horse had stronger features than the ponies she was used to and so it made her feel weird. She looked up and noticed that the moon was full and that it was a quiet night. She turned around to see a giant building in front of her with a sign that read
“Canterlot High”.

“Hmmm, Canterlot High huh?” Sunset said as she continued to study her surroundings.

She moved backwards and almost tripped on something causing her to fall with her back to the statue with a thud. She looked down past her shaky legs and noticed that her satchels had made it with her and were strewn across the floor.
“Well at least these guys made it with me” she said to herself as she was counting her blessings.

She picked up the satchels and awkwardly through them over her shoulder. The wind was starting to bite into her so she decided to try and conjure up some fabric to better cover herself. When she tried she felt no magic run through her, so she tried again and again until she felt that she was going to pop. Nothing was happening and this was starting to panic Sunset since she was originally a unicorn and was used to using magic constantly. She looked around in the night time darkness and noticed several light poles out illuminating most houses around. She saw that no one was out and decided to make a go from one of the houses making sure to stay hidden behind trees and bushes as she didn’t quite trust this place yet.
As she was behind some bushes in front of a big green house, she looked through the window to see other beings dressed in their clothing from head to toe making Sunset feel even more exposed. She ducked down and hunched over using the bushes as cover, she made her way around the house. The house didn’t have a fence and Sunset found herself in the backyard where she quickly spotted some clothing hanging from a wire. She went over and took off her cloak and decide to try on some of the clothing. Some trousers she tried where too big and fell right down so she tried again with some grey pants that felt soft. They felt good and comfy on her as she adjusted the tie at the front to make them tighter. The next part was her top half as the night wind was only picking up making her shiver all the more.
She grabbed a pink shirt that said swag hound on it and threw it on.

“What’s a swag hound I wonder?” she said as she looked at the shirt in all its glittery glory.
The shirt itself fit a little big but she didn’t mind as she was now fully clothed except for her feet that still remained naked. The cloths would have to do for now as she had to move on. Just as she was about to go the lights to the backyard turned on and a door slid open.

“HEY WHO’S OUT THERE?! IM CALLING THE COPS YA PERVERT!” a man could be heard yelling.
This scared the crap out of Sunset as she scrambled in the dark to run away from the light and the yelling man. She made it back onto the main street and ran down until her lungs burned like Tartarus flame. Once she felt she was far enough did she stop behind a building that had a “open 24/7” sign outside it. There wasn’t anybody out and she felt that she could catch her breath there. She was glad that she hadn’t left anything behind as she counted her items again and again obsessively. All the coins were still there along with the four books, and that made her calm down a bit.

She looked around and began to wonder if she could somehow find a way back to Equestria, because wherever this was it wasn’t her home she was used to. She was sitting on damp hard ground with her new cloths stained and muddy from running so hard and fast. She wondered if there was even a way back since she couldn’t use her magic here. All her senses seemed muted and the loss of magic was throwing her off somewhat. Being in this up right position running and all also didn’t make it easier.

Sunset got up from the wet ground and went on her way walking onwards. She marched on and on until she came up into what seemed like the city because it had several tall buildings in the area. She moved along encountering several big metal carriages that ran by at high speeds. This made her stay to the side of the road so she wouldn’t be hit but they still gave her a fright when one passed on by. The many people looked at her funny and stared at her like they knew something she didn’t. She marched on until she came along the side of a building and found herself in front of a terribly old building that held up a sign that said “El Catalina motel” on top of what seemed like the lobby. The motel stretched all around and there seemed to be one room to the side where a picnic table sat outside it and a tall tree stood. The doors to this small room had windows and Sunset could see that there was a woman at the front desk reading a book. There was also a man sitting in a chair reading a magazine while drinking some beverage. Both look uninterested and lost into whatever they were reading. Sunset understood what a motel was since they had those back in Equestria so she decided to enter and see if she could secure lodging.

She entered the lobby and looked around and noticed the harsh smell of the liquid brewing in the corner which was in a see-through pot and black as all night. The older woman who was reading a book behind the desk put her literature down and looked at her as she approached. The woman in her purple blouse looked unamused as Sunset made her way on timid feet to the front desk. Sunset pulled back the hood of her cloak and looked up into the lady's face and began to ask for lodging.

“Ummm....hey, how much for a room?” Sunset asked the woman as she started digging in her satchel for one of the gold or silver coins to barter with.

“Excuse me? Aren’t you a little young to be out this late looking for a room?” the woman asked as she looked at Sunset closer.

“I got some coin if you have change, let me just get it here. I think this should cover it” Sunset said as she struggled to pull
out just the right amount of silver coin for the barter.
Once the two big silver coins she wanted were out, she slammed them on the table.

“What's this? You can’t pay with that” the woman said now looking unapprovingly.

“What, is it more? Ok, but you better not be swindling me and there better be change” replied Sunset as she took out a single gold coin begrudgingly.
Sunset didn’t want to spend what little she had especially these rare coins, but she was willing to in the hopes of getting some respite from this whole ordeal. She had yet to see herself in the mirror and noticed that the woman had said she looked a bit young.

Everything was not going so well since she had botched a robbery and threw herself through time and space, only to land in this strange land. Just as the lady looked like she was about to refuse again did Sunset feel a hand on her shoulder and jumped in fright. She looked around and the man that had been sitting in the corner drinking and reading a magazine was now standing next to her. With a hand firmly on her she couldn’t get away, so she started to panic since she knew she couldn’t fight her way out since he was bigger than her and she had these scrawny arms. Sunset only gulped and looked from the man to the woman.

Author's Note

Lets see how this one goes. Lemme know if you got any input.

Ch.3 New friends

The moment was tense as the seconds passed by and it felt like eons. The man still had his hand on Sunsets shoulder and wasn’t letting up. Sunset didn’t know whether to try and run, shout or fight, it was all just too much for her at the moment. She looked to the lady and then the man who was considerably taller than her in his black pants and black button shirt.
“Ahaha! My niece is soo funny! Seems you’ve fallen for one of her quirky little pranks there Lisa!” the man said as he scooped up the coins and put them in Sunsets satchel.

Sunset just looked at him with suspicion and wondering what he was getting at.
“She just got into town and I told my sister she could stay with me sooooo, I thought maybe I could get her the room next to mine since mine is a bit cramped at the moment” the man said as he held firm on her shoulder.

The lady looking ever unamused just shrugged and didn’t put up much of a fight and charged the man for a week on a room next to his. Sunset had wide eyes and was sort of rigid as the man led her away and out the door.

“I....I am....”

“Shhh, hold on till we get to the room” the man said over her as he led her down a grimy hallway past several doors with numbers on them until they reached nuber 26.

The feeling Sunset was undergoing was shear dread, this strange man had paid for a room for her and led her to a room. Everything in Sunset told her to run away and shout for help even if she didn’t know her way around her and was literally new in town. The man let go of Sunset and fumbled in his pocket for his keys. Sunset saw her chance but before she could turn and run the man was opening the door.

Sunset closed her eyes not wanting to be present for what was going to happen next.

“Rain Leaf Storm get up we have a guest!! And get your shoes off of the bed, how many times do I have to tell you!!!” the man shouted suddenly.

“Awww dad c'mon not the full name OOF!!” a young girl wearing a dark blue shirt said as she fell off the bed from hanging upside down on it.

Sunset saw this just as she opened her eyes and couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. The man was now standing inside the small room waiting for Sunset to enter as he stood with his arm waving towards inside. Sunset was wary and didn’t know quite if to enter or not.

“Don’t worry it's just me and my daughter in here” the man assured her with a big smile.
Sunset walked in and looked around the room to find it had two small beds a counter top with a bunch of items and some cooking utensils. In the far end was a sink and what looked like a bathroom quarter. There was only one window which was blocked by a blanket of some sort.

“Hey who’s this? Is she asking for money or something? Dad I told you to stop giving away cash to homeless people!!” the girl said to her father as she was straightening out her shirt and hair.

The girl was of similar height of Sunset yet she had dark brown hair and had tan skin with green eyes. Sunset must have looked angry because soon the man was trying to explain himself all at once.

“Ok look she’s not homeless or at least I don’t know if she is. I just had to help this kid out because she was about to pay for a room with gold and silver, I swear!” the man said to his daughter who wasn’t looking to appeased.

“And you, what were you doing trying to buy a room with such heavy gold and silver coins!? Where are you from cuz you're not from here that’s for sure! Let me tell you, you can’t be going around these areas flaunting that kinda materials ok. I don’t mean you any harm I just thought I’d help before Lisa there at the front took advantage of you.” the man told Sunset as she looked on with arched eyebrows.

The man sat down on the bed near him and grabbed his face as if in frustration and breathed in and out.
“Than... thank you, I appreciate the help but what are you going to want in return?” Sunset told the man still intent on not trusting these people.

“Look, I don’t want anything. I got you the room next to ours there but its only for a week and then what are you going to do? Are you in school? Are you a runaway because I would advise you go back home ok.” the man told Sunset with a little more concern in his voice.

There was a silence for a bit as Sunset decided on how to respond.

“I can’t go back home....” she said with her head down letting the wait of what she just said sink in.
The thought that she couldn’t go back home was now really settling in her mind since she had no time to think about it much since she got here.

“One of those huh. Well look just stay in the room next door and I'll be over to give you some food right now in a bit I just
gotta go pick some up. And about that gold and whatever else you got in your purses there, well you better keep that under wraps for the time being ok. Oh, and by the way this is Rain and you can call me Mr. Storm.” the man said getting up from the bed and waving from his daughter and then to himself.

“I’m Sunset.......Sunset Shimmer”.

“Well Miss Shimmer, I’ll be right back. Make yourself comfortable, shower or something” Mr. Storm said as he got his keys
off the little table.

Mr. Storm put on a coat and was out the door where Sunset heard a great rumbling sound come from behind the doorway. Sunset was now in the room alone with the girl known as Rain and the silence was getting unbearable. She looked down and then back to Rain until she broke the silence.

“Ooookay.....soooo did you need something orrr....” Rain said as she dragged her words a bit for effect.
“Um no okay hold on next door right?” Sunset said all at once in an awkward way while she walked backwards towards the door.

She went outside and went to the left and opened the door to find an old man lying in his bed with something covering his mouth as it sounded that he struggled to breath. Sunset let out a little scream as she closed the door right away and went to the next door on the other side. The door was unlocked as she turned the knob and looked inside. It was dark and she slowly made her way into the room with her arms out ready to take out anything that wanted to harm her. Suddenly the light clicked on.

“Oh, my dad called and said to give you this since you don’t have any cloths with you.........what are you doing?” Rain said as she was now inside the room with Sunset hunched over ready for a fight.
“Nothing! Nothing I just was making myself comfortable....” Sunset said lying to the girl's face.
It seemed that the Rain had brought over some new pair of cloths and had set them down on the bed where a key on a ring lay.

“You ok there? You got that thousand-yard stare there.....” Rain said as she called out to Sunset
Sunset snapped out of her hypnotized gaze and looked up at Rain and gave her a smile.

“Um ya thank you, I got it from here” Sunset said as she smiled and tried to look like she belonged as she awkwardly crossed her arms.

“Weird” Rain said to herself as she turned around and left closing the door after some more silence.
Sunset waited until she heard the door to the other room close and then sat down on the bad and threw herself back. She was tired beyond reason but she still couldn’t rest as she still had a few things to figure out before she could even consider turning in for the night. She got her satchels and dumped the items from them on the bed so she could look at them really quick.

She saw the four fat books and ran her hand over their hard leather covers and wondered where she should hide the books since Mr. Storm said this wasn’t a good area and all. Sunset looked around all over the room but there wasn’t much to it. There was a bed, a counter with a black box on it, another small black box on the side of the counter and then a small restroom area at the end. The walls were all made of old cinderblock and where painted white that looked like it was chipping off in areas. Sunset moved the bed up and under the wooden box frame underneath she found an area to hide away her things. She carefully put the books and some of the silver trinkets in their new hiding space while she kept a few silver and gold coins with her since she was guessing she was still in need on some type of currency to move around. She just needed to figure out how to convert the gold and silver into this world's currency.

Sunset spent the next few minutes studying the room she was in, and soon noticed that the small box next to the counter was a fridge. The black box on top of the counter was actually what puzzled Sunset the most since she was touching it, she managed to turn it on by pressing a button on the front. The box came to life and displayed other people through it doing various things. There was a blond tan man with an obscene amount of muscles screaming at Sunset at a high volume as he moved about in what seemed to be exercise.

“ARE YOU A FAT SACK!! YA YOU!! LOOK AT YOU JUST SITTING THERE, IT DISGUSTS ME!! WANT MUSCLES LIKE THESE?!? THEN GET MAD MATTY’S INSANE JERK OUT WORKOUT NOOOOOWWW!!”.

Sunset was startled to all hell with the sudden loud noise with the man screaming at her at full volume she tried to get it to go back to its original quiet state. She struggled with the box making the sound even louder before finally getting it to shut off. She was thankful and hoped that the girl next door didn’t hear any of that. Sunset tried to then see if she could connect to her magic somehow, so she got on the bed and tried to slip into a state of meditation as she was taught to do. In her mind she could feel a rush of emotion that she tried to quell but was harder this time around. Soon there was quiet and stillness filled in a spacious void of her making. The light was hard to latch on to as she struggled with the inner magical foundation that lay inside. She tried to feel it course through her and tried to manipulate that into manifesting but in the end, nothing happened and she opened her eyes wide quickly as she let out her breath.

She had been holding her breath without knowing and was trying to catch her breath. Just then she was staring at a mirror that was at the far end of the wall ahead of her next to the black talking box. She could see herself, really see herself for the first time since she had gotten to this place. She could see she was a young person with a thin frame and light tan skin. Her hair had remained the same although she did take a moment to see the dirty pink shirt that said “SWAG HOUND” and cringed at how unkept it was with mud.

“Still don’t know what a swag hound is..... but I need to get out of these cloths” she said to herself.

She was about to get up and change into the cloths Rain had brought for her when suddenly a loud honking could be heard from the outside. A loud clang and footsteps until Sunset heard the door next door close shut. She stood in silence trying to hear so she went up to the wall and pressed her small ears to the wall. She could only hear muffled voices when suddenly there was a knock at her door. This startled Sunset and she almost lost her balance for a moment as she went to the door to open it up.

When she opened the door up a crack she saw that it was Mr. Storm standing there with his dark hair and clothing.

“Hey there, I brought some fried chicken if you're interested. It's from this local place around the corner so I can vouch that it’s the best in town!” Mr. Storm said as he held up a bag for Sunset to take.

Sunset opened the door more and accepted the bag with an awkward grasp and stared at it as she let the aroma from the bag go up her nose. It smelled good leaving Sunset standing there with her stomach rumbling showing her how hungry she really was.
Mr. Storm was about to go back to his room when he stopped at the doorway looking back at Sunset just standing there with her bag.

“Umm, you can come eat with us if you want the man said as he gestured for her to come on over.
Sunset followed the man into his room and stood inside as he closed the door behind her. The girl Rain could be seen sitting on her bed digging into the bag with what looked like a biscuit in her mouth.

“Rain c'mon wait till we’re all here!! Jeez!!” the man shouted as he saw her eating already.

“Sorry pops I thought we were good to go, didn’t know we were gonna have dinner guests sheesh” Rain said as she rolled her eyes through a mouthful of biscuit.

“Here grab a seat with me or over there with Rain if you want, but let's dig in!” the man said as he opened his bag of food.
Sunset went over and sat across from Rain and opened her bag as Rain blew hair out of her face and stared at Sunset for a bit before returning to the chicken at hand. The room was silent with the sounds of the three eating away and the sounds of slurping from their beverages.

“Here Sunny you can have one of these sodas from the fridge, I forgot to get you one when I went” Mr. Storm said as he went over and grabbed a can from the fridge and passed it to Sunset.

Sunset looked at it and read that it said " SODA HORSE”. She opened it up and took a drink if the purple can. Her eyes went wide as she tasted something fizzy and sugary beyond comprehension. Sunset gulped down the rest of the soda as she looked around the room. There was clothing in a large pile in the corner behind them along with several items of foreign nature on the counter top. There were also some satchels laying near the door and near Mr. Storms bedside along with a little table with a small lamp on it. She must have been staring hard because Mr. Storm chimed as Sunset finished her beverage.

“I know it’s a bit messy, but you caught us while we were moving stuff around so excuse the mess”.
“Oh, it’s not that I was just blankly staring while I downed this delicious drink you gave me!” Sunset said lying trying not to be rude.

The three of them finished their meals in silence as Rain kept shooting looks at Sunset and Mr. Storm just looked at the both of them from time to time as he finished his drink.

“So, where you from?” Rain blurted out as she sat crossed legged on the bed.

“Rain! That’s rude! She doesn’t have to say if she doesn’t want to” Mr. Storm shot at his daughter a bit shocked.

“What it’s a valid question!”.

“She doesn't need to say. Look just ignore my child over there and just have another soda” the man said

Sunset was looking standing up looking at a few sharp items that looked like syringes on the counter top where also a pot with foul smelling liquid seemed to sit. This was going down as the father and daughter bickered about manners.

“HEY hey hey, let's come over here why don’t we” the man said as threw a blanket over the counter top and guided Sunset away from it handing her another soda.

“Look that’s some sensitive stuff there, no need to get into all that right now. So, Miss Sunset if you don’t wanna say where you're from that’s fine but I gotta ask about the gold and silver coins. From what I saw concerning what you had, they looked heavy and could possibly go for a lot if they arnt something special. So what I'm trying to say is, where did you get them and why did you try to pay with them?” the man said with concern in his face as he looked at Sunset straight in her eyes.

“Well the coins come from..... well they were given to me before I left. As for trying to pay with them, I had nothing else to barter with for a room so I thought it was sufficient. Although I thought the price was a bit too high.” Sunset finished saying

“I see, well that doesn’t tell me anything. You know what its fine, just want to tell you that you shouldn’t try and pawn those since they’ll just rip you off. If you need help getting rid of those I can be of some help since I know a few people.” the man was telling her.

Rain just rolled her eyes and had her arms crossed as she sat on her bed with an unamused expression.

“Ok....thanks for that but I think I’ll hang onto them for a bit.” Sunset said as she walked towards the door and opening it.

“Ok well if you change your mind let us know. All you have to do is knock on our door, we’ll be here.” said the man as Sunset made her way out the door.

Sunset went over to her room full and feeling a bit awkward about the whole thing. It didn’t seem like the Rain girl liked her at all and the Father seemed too nice. It was all so weird and Sunset just wanted to figure things out and maybe get some sleep if she could manage it. She lay on the bed and thought about Equestria and the food she would be eating right now in her little shack of a home. Her mind went to her magic again as she lamented on the thought of losing it. All the thoughts swirled in her mind until she finally lost track and fell asleep not knowing that the two next door were still discussing her.

Author's Note

I wrote this so quick because of the whole quarantine deals. I don't know if thats good or bad.

Ch.4 Easing into things

Sunset lay in her bed for hours thinking about everything that had transpired. From arriving to this strange land from Equestria to the delicious dinner she just had with some strangers that she just met. It was all a lot to take in but she just eased her mind with a focal point of a meadow she visited once as a filly. This always helped her to calm down and focus no matter what the situation. She lay in the bed without the covers for what seemed like forever until she slipped into a deep tired sleep. It wasn’t long before she hit r.e.m. and was off to the races with dreams of different outcomes.

When Sunset woke up with the sun coming through the crappy blinds and hitting her face. She was on her side hugging a pillow and with some drool on her cheek. She wiped the drool away as she got up and sat with her feet on the floor. She stretched and rubbed her eyes and tried to summon a towel and her tooth brush with her magic as if she was at home.

When nothing happened and she opened her eyes from a yawn she furrowed her brows as she was irritated that the loss of
her magic wasn’t just a dream. She tried again in vain to lift the key to the room that lay next to her but found she still couldn’t. Sunset hunched over with her face in her hands groaning at situation hoping that when she opened her eyes, she would be back home. No such thing happened but before Sunset could curse the gods as knock at the door snapped her out of her mind.

Sunset approached the door with the same carefulness and opened it only slightly to see that it was again Mr. Storm standing out there with another bag in his hand that smelled terribly good. Sunset looked the man up and down seeing that he was dressed in the same cloths he had on the night before but kept the door slightly open as she starred at him. With squinted eyes she stared him down as the sun also hit her face.

“Is this a good time? Did I wake you, because I can come back. I just wanted to come by and offer you some breakfast” the Mr. Storm said as he lightly shook a white bag in front of her.

Sunset looked at the bag with hungry eyes as she could smell some type of fried goodness within it and her stomach was rumbling. She opened the door more and let the sunlight wash over her as she stood facing Mr. Storm.

“Umm yeah thank you Mr.....”

“Storm, Mr. Storm, and if you wouldn’t mind, I was going to invite you to have breakfast with us. If you wanted, that is.” the
man said as he passed Sunset the bag of food.
Sunset took the food in her hands and looked back at her empty room and then back at the smiling man and decided to follow him back to their room next door.

When the two entered, Sunset could see that Rain was laying on her stomach in a large black T-shirt with some pajama pants on the bed. Her face was down in a pillow with her hair wild and all over the place.

“Rain! Get up, I got breakfast and Sunset is joining us for breakfast. So, I need you to get your butt up before we eat all the breakfast.” the man said as he walked up to his daughter shaking her back lightly.

“Ugh, c'mon pops what time is it anyways? Just save me a bite will ya” Rain said as she sunk her head back down to the pillow.

“No, it’s eight o’ clock and it's time to start the day. So up and at em”.
Sunset watched the exchange as it in a way reminded her of when her own father would try and wake her up. The moment was touching as she looked on but as Sunset back up to lean on the counter top she bumped into something sharp that poked her hard.

“Ow! God what was that!” Sunset shouted as she grabbed for her lower back.
When Sunset turned around, she saw it was a blade of some sort. A small knife that was on top of the counter jutting out. She held onto her lower back as it stung quite a bit, as the father a daughter duo was now looking at her as she danced around in pain.

“Whoah there watch out for that there! I got some sensitive items on top of the counter so why don’t you just sit over here for the time being.” Mr. Storm told Sunset as she continued to rub the spot the knife poked her in.
As she pulled her hand back, she noticed that there was blood on her fingers. Mr. Storm saw this and pulled Rain up to her feet from the bed she was sitting on now.

“Go get the balm and the bandages Rain. Then patch up your new friend here”.
Rain only looked displeased and went over to the sink counter outside the bathroom and grabbed some bandages and went over to Sunset.

“Turn around. I need to put some of this balm on you so hold still. Its gonna sting so don’t be a baby”.
Sunset winced as the balm was put on and as Rain had said it did sting a bit. She stood there turned around with her shirt up a bit so she could be bandaged up. She noticed that Mr. Storm had stepped outside the room and was smoking something with the door open.

Once Rain was done and Mr. Storm finished his smoke, the three sat for their breakfast. The meal was nothing special but damnit if it didn’t taste good. It was a wrap with egg and cheese in it, Sunset ate the entire thing before the other two were done with theirs. During her short time eating Sunset was taking in again what was in the room. The counter top seemed to be filled with more items than the night before. Baggies and orange plastic pieces littered the counter along with red powder dusted here and there.

“So Sunset now that we’ve had a meal twice, I’d like to ask you again. What was with the gold and silver coins?” Mr. Storm said as he leaned over eating his wrap.

“Ya, what's up with that? When my dad told me what you were doing, I gotta say that’s crazy that you’ve been walking around these parts with that kinda treasure.” Rain chimed in as she also chomped down on a big piece of wrap as she sat next to Susnet.

“So I gather that this place isn’t the safest? Look I had what I had on me and that's what I tried to use. Ok" Sunset said a little defensively since she didn’t know what to say on the spot.

“Ok ok calm down, sorry for prying, I was just beside myself when I saw you. Also, you’d be wise to remember to be careful out around these parts” the man told her as he finished his food and threw it away.

“So, what’s the next move for you since you got no money and only a week here?” Rain asked as she too threw her empty bag of food to the bin.

“Rain cmon honey, you gotta work on how you say things” Mr. Storm told his daughter as he shook his head.

“Well I'm thankful that you helped me out, but I don’t have much plans than trying to get back home is all. I gotta figure this place out if I'm going to make it” Sunset told them as she peered into her mind for a picture of Equestria and its lush green landscape.

“Well if you want to unload some of those coins, I can take you to a friend that’ll give you a good price on em. Don’t worry though I'm not looking for a cut of it, I'm just trying to help out a kid in need”.

Sunset thought about this for a moment as she wondered what to do. She might as well sell the coins since that was the only thing of value she had at her disposal. The books she brought with her were not to be touched so that was out of the question. She decided to go along with Mr. Storms proposition since she had no liquid cash at the moment and she was sure she was going to need it.

“Ok then, let's do that. But I gotta get something good out of it because it’s all I have in the world right now” Sunset said as she shook her head yes.

“Good! Let us just get ready and we’ll go and get you from your room. We'll be on our way in no time!” the man said happily as he brushed his black hair back with a smile.

Sunset took that as a sign to go back to her room and wait so she did just that. She waited for a few minutes as the two next
door got ready for their excursion out into the city. Sunset retrieved the coins from their hiding place and stuffed them into the pajama pant pockets. She felt she was ready to go so she waited alone in the room in the dark trying to figure out the black talking box on the counter top again. The familiar knock song sounded at the door and Sunset went to open it again expecting it to be the father daughter team but instead an older woman was standing in front of her.

“Excuse me but would you have any money you could spare? I'm hungry and I haven’t had a meal in days” the woman said.
The older woman seemed to be in her forty’s and was disheveled as all hell with her blond hair whipping all over the place. Her sun baked skin was cracked and her lips were split as she spit while she talked.

“Get outta here Margaret! Leave my niece alone! Unless you're going to get a rig than I don’t think you should be here, remember they called the cops last time you were asking the tenants for mone?” Mr. Storm showed up out of nowhere saying as he told the woman to go someplace else.

“Sorry bout that, sometimes we get people asking for money since we’re so close to the bus station. You ready?” Mr. Storm turned and told Sunset as the older woman moved along grumbling to herself.

Sunset nodded and was starting to exit her room when Rain chuckled a bit behind her father as she looked Sunset up and down.

“Going a little comfy I see.” Rain said as Sunset looked herself over.

“C'mon Rain, the girl doesn’t have anything else to wear. You lent her some pajamas and her other cloths are dirty as hell. You know what? Why don’t you lend her some pants and she can keep on the shirt she’s got on. On and lend her your sandals while you're at it!” Mr. Storm called out to Rain from outside the room as she went inside to fetch Sunset some items.

Mr. Storm just looked on at Sunsets bare feet and winced as he could see that they had many bruises and cuts on them.
“Gotta get you some shoes when we’re out there, remind me” Mr. Storm told Sunset.

Once Rain gave the pants and the sandals over to Sunset the two waited outside as Sunset went inside to put the items on. The pants were black and a bit tight on her figure as it hugged every part of her, the shirt was also black as it seemed to be a favorite color of the two since that was all Sunset saw them wear so far. She didn’t mind the cloths or the sandals that were a light brown, she was just glad to be receiving the help she was getting. The only problem was now there was no room in the pants for the coins to go in so Sunset decided to bring one of her satchels along. After Sunset was ready to go she opened the door and went outside with the two and stood there as she watched them get into one of those metal carriages she saw everywhere. They opened the door to the carriage and Rain motioned for her to get in. Sunset approached the vehicle with caution as it rumbled to life, she put one foot in just to make sure it was ok.

“Any day now” Rain said a little annoyed as she sat in the front with her father.

Sunset took the hint and saw that they were inside and ok so she jumped into the backseat of the broken down Crown Vic. The seats Sunset found to be quite comfortable as she sunk into them. There was a clear smell of old smoke in the vehicle as the carriage moved along backwards. Sunset turned around like a little kid watching the car reverse as Rain looked at her with suspicion through the rear-view mirror. As the car got out of the dirt lot that was the parking for the motel and into the highway did Sunset finally start to get nervous again. The vehicle seemed to be dashing through several lines of traffic and was going at a speed she wasn’t used to yet.

“Look at you back there, I know my dad drives a bit like a madman but is this the first time you’ve ever been in a car?” Rain asked Sunset as she could be seen gripping the edge of her seat with a worried expression.

“No, I'm good. I just get uhh motion sickness.....” Sunset said as she tried not to let it be known that she had no clue about such a carriage.

“How about we put some tunes to lighten up the mood eh?” Mr. Storm said as he messed around with a device he had in his hand as he turned up the volume.

The sounds that came from the car was a cacophony of riffs and crashes from symbols as it blarred through the car stereo.

“This is a good one! It's from my favorite band called “Scummy Jones”, they’re a freakin blast! Just give it a chance!” Mr. Storm shouted over the music to Sunset as he then turned the music louder.

One wild ride and buzzing ear drums later and they were at their destination, it was a terribly old building that looked like it was falling apart just like the motel. Sunset sat in the car and looked at the sign outside the building that read “big Joe’s pawn”.

“Are you gonna get out? We’re here, this is the place” Rain said as she leaned on the car and spoke to Sunset through the semi opened window.

Sunset felt a little stupid for being slow on the pickup and quickly got out of the vehicle and followed Rain and her father into the shop.

The place the went into filled Sunset with wonder as there seemed to be an infinite number of items spread all over the place. Things hung on the wall and were placed on tables, there was even a large section of jewelry of all types. Sunset couldn’t help but to begin to wonder around the shop looking at all the things up and down twice so she didn’t miss anything.

“Hey why don’t you go with Sunset, so she doesn’t get lost there. I need to talk to Joe for a bit real quick” Mr. Storm told Rain as he motioned for her to follow Sunset.

“Ok ok im goin” Rain said as she took off after Sunset who was getting farther and farther away into the wide shop.
Rain followed after Sunset who was looking at the guns through a display. Sunset happened to be pressed against the display looking at a bunch of pistols through the glass.

“Yah you don’t need one of those yet” Rain said coming up behind Sunset.

“What... I mean these items here look interesting, especially that one” Sunset told Rain as she motioned with her head to a particular hand cannon.

“Holy crap, you wanna blow off your hand or somethin?! Come, lets go look at what kinda DVD's they got or if they got any new games” Rain told Sunset pulling her by the arm and chuckling as she did so.

“Wait! The....the items here! What's a DVD?!” Sunset said as she was yanked along towards another section of the shop.
The shop itself was huge and felt like a maze to Sunset as she was being yanked this way and that rather roughly by the one called Rain. She in her usual black cloths that seemed like a uniform finally came to a large couple stacks sitting on a table.

“These are DVD’s, and these are games! Here help me look for a game called ETERNAL ZLAD : DEATH CULT!” Rain said as she set Sunset in front of a stack of old looking plastic cases with a number of pictures on them.
Sunset flipped through several looking for the title Rain wanted but only found several with silly titles that made her chuckle. There was gems such as “Poodle ex con: live fast” that had a dog of some type with metal surrounding its body in places, and another that just had some type of dragon on it with blood coming out its mouth. All that seemed intriguing to Sunset but after a few minutes she was yanked again in a direction as she read the back of game box.

“Let’s see if my dads ready, you got you stuff with you?” Rain asked
Sunset nodded as she put a hand on her satchel she was carrying with her. They moved through the maze until they came to a counter area where a rough white hair and bearded man stood behind hunched over talked to Mr. Storm.

“So we got a deal?” Mr. Storm asked the man

“If it proves good then we have a deal?” the rough looking man said as he straightened up as he saw Rain and Sunset approach.
The man was tall and was wearing a blue shirt with several tattoos on his arms that swirled around his forearms. He had one some black slacks with a belt that held it all together, Sunset also noticed he had one of those items Sunset had seen in the display on his waist.

“Oh just in time! You girls see anything cool out there?” Mr. Storm asked with a grin on his face as he looked at the both of them.

“What are we doin here pops? Like can you help Sunset or not cuz shouldn’t we be getting back anyways?” Rain asked her father in an annoyed tone as she crossed her arms.

“Yes, well let’s get to it then. Sunset may we see the items?” Mr. Storm asked Sunset asked as the rough white haired man breathed heavily.

Sunset fumbled with her satchel and then brought it up to the counter top and pulled out the coins that happened to be quite a few. Ten coins in all, some bigger than others and some with stranger markings than the last. The coins were a historical treasure for sure Sunset thought as she placed them on the counter. There were five gold and five silver and two actually seemed to be palm sized and heavy.

The two older gentlemen looked in awe at the coins they saw before them. Sunset was starting to regret her decision but pushed the feeling down as she knew she needed something to work with in this new world. The old man looked at the coins and ran his fingers lightly over the coins and took out a magnifying glass to start his inspection.

“These are magnificent clearly but I need a closer look at them, and please call me Joe, Miss Sunset was it? Ah look at this here, this I need a second opinion on. This just might be a little out of my expertise” said the man all at once as he flipped a heavy palm sized gold coin on the table.

“Ya well look we need somethin today so how about we make somethin happen on one of these smaller ones here” Mr. Storm said as he pointed to the smaller gold coins.

“Can I keep one over night for a closer inspection?” the man looked up and asked Sunset as he held firm to the giant coin.

“No. You can have one of the smaller ones, like these two here” Mr. Storm said as he scooted to thick medium sized coins towards Joe.

“Ok ok let's see. Without knowing more about the coins, I can only give you the amount its worth in weight alright” Joe said to Mr. Storm completely ignoring Sunset now and only dealing with Mr. Storm.

Sunset felt something in her gut that told her to stop this transaction but didn’t know why. Mr. Storm was only trying to help her and she did need some capital. Before she could chime in the two were shaking hands and laughing as Rain looked at some little black box in her hand.

“Ok, so let's see here, your total is........”

Author's Note

I was thinking about a friend of mine when i wrote this chapter.

Ch.5 Hitting the windshield

The two men shook hands again and Sunset put her coins in her satchel as the got ready to leave. She stared at the man named Joe and saw how giddy he was to have the two coins now in his possession. It made her uneasy to see them in his greasy hands but the deal was done and she understood what that meant. She put the satchel on and put a hand on it as she thought about the amount she was given for the coins and wondered what they would have fetched on the Equestrian black market. She still and eight including the giant ones and that gave her peace of mind in the short term.

“Very good Storm, I’ll get these to my friend so we can see what the actual value of these things are, if at all. I’ll give you a call if I find something out” Joe said as he smiled from ear to ear with the coins in his hand.

“Ok, see ya later Joe. Thanks for the help” Mr. Storm replied as he was walking towards the exit with his daughter and Sunset in tow.

Once they were outside the shop and standing by the old white Crown Vic did Mr. Storm turn around and looked at Sunset. He dug in his pocket for the cash and then held it out for Sunset to take.
“This is for you” Mr. Storm said as he held a wad of currency out for Sunset.

She grabbed the money and rolled it up and stuck it in her back pocket. The money felt like a lot but she wasn’t quite sure and she didn’t want to be asking if it was. It was already being hammered into her that this wasn’t the best of areas to be in so she wanted to be extra careful. Besides she wasn’t sure how she felt about all this help being thrust upon her and this made her wary of every move that was being made.

“Thanks for the help sir.......again........” Sunset said as she thought about the money in her back pocket.

“Don’t mention it, always glad to help. Now don’t go spending that all at once, havin a good time and all” Storm told her as he got into the vehicle and started it up.

Sunset got into the vehicle and they were off once again at high speeds as Sunset bounced around in the back while Rain just continued to look at her at what now Sunset understood to be a phone unaffected as the car dashed through lanes. The sky was cloudy and it started to rain halfway into they’re drive. Sunset looked at all the tall buildings as the passed them on the freeway. Some of these things looked like long castles all sitting next to each other. It amazed her and it was all so much to take in. There were tall buildings in Equestria but none so magnificent as these that she saw before her. As the car ride went on Sunset took out the wad of cash and looked at it as she inspected the bills one by one looking at the numbers and the writing on them. Some had twenties on them, some had one hundreds on them but she didn’t know if it was good or not for this world.

Just then she saw that Storm was taking a glance at her through the rearview mirror.
“You don’t like the amount I got you? Think you could have gotten more or what?” Storm asked as he drove.
“Oh, no that’s not it. I just thought that it was quite a bit.” Sunset said as she didn’t want him to know she didn’t get how much she can get with this amount.

“I got the best deal since Joe is an old work buddy from way back. So don’t you fret”.
The ride continued as they turned and got off the highway and started going through some dilapidated neighborhoods that looked in disarray. The phone rang and Storm took the phone from Rain as she was using it.

“Ya, I'm nearby. Ok, let me head over then” Storm said into his phone as he got off the highway and made a crazy U-turn on the street.

Sunset wasn’t wearing her seatbelt so she went flying to one side and then the other as the car righted itself.

“Just gotta make a little stop you guys. It’ll be quick.” Storm told them
Sunset wondered what was up since she noticed that Rain got more serious and straightened up in her chair and kept a tentative watch on the street as they passed neighborhoods. The feeling was a little more tense than usual and Sunset could feel it. After about the fifth neighborhood the cam to grimy looking cul-de-sac as Mr. Storm parked the car under a light pole.

“Where are they?” Rain asked as not even five minutes had passed.
Sunset didn’t know what was happening so she too kept her eyes peeled as she gripped the seat again.

“I don’t know just give it a minute” Storm told Rain as he watched for something.

“What are we doing he....”

“Look there he is! Fuck he’s kinda far!” Storm said as a skinny white male in tattered clothing walking over from between two houses that looked abandoned.

The man gradually picked up his pace and started to then run towards the car. This made Storm look even more serious than he already looked so he put an arm across Rains chest while he looked at the man still running.

“Stay here, lemme go out there” Storm told Rain more than the both of them.

Mr. Storm got out of the vehicle and tried to speak to the man but before he could do anything the man was in front of him. In the moment before getting right up to Mr. Storm he looked to have taken out an item that he held in his hand, an item like the one she was interested in back at the shop.

“He’s got a gun! POPS!!” Rain shouted with wide eyes as she crawled into the driver seat and put it in drive all in quick succession.

The vehicle peeled out and quickly took off around the cul-de-sac. Sunset had fallen down and struggled to get up as the vehicle made a round trip around the situation. Once Sunset was up, she could see that out the window Mr. Storm was being held up by the skinny white male. Storm had his hands up and in front of himself as he talked and said something to the man as he moved closer bit by bit. Before Rain could turn the wheel, Sunset saw Mr. Storm with lightning speed grab the muzzle of the so-called gun and was now wrestling with the white skinny man. The skinny man had on a grey hoodie that Storm pulled over the man's head but still they fought over the gun. Sunset cowered down as she then heard several loud bangs all of a sudden.

*BAM BAM!!! Went the weapon as it shot towards the sky.

Rain put the car facing the two fighting in the street and then stepped on it. Sunset figured she was going to try and run the man fighting her father over but the notion was crazy because there was a big chance, she would hit her father. The two continued to fight as the vehicle hurled toward them. The man then pointed the gun towards the car as Mr. Storm hand his arm in his hand and the other on the man's neck. There were three more loud bangs and Rain Yelled as she turned the wheel and crashed into another light pole across from the scene. Sunset went flying into the front of the car and smashed her face on the windshield. Everything went black for Sunset as rain then started to be heard pouring outside with thunder in tow.

When Sunset came to, she found that the car was in motion as she found herself laying in the backseat. The car was moving along at an even pace as they made their way in silence. Sunset sat up in the backseat and rubbed her aching forehead which throbbed like some kind of beast.

“What happened.....”Sunset asked as she sat back in the comfortable seating.

Sunset soon got her answer as the silence was then broken by Rain.
“WHAT THE FUCK!? WHAT JUST HAPPENED!?! THIS IS FREAKIN BULLSHIT!! WHO WAS THAT!?” Rain shouted as she turned to shout at her father.

“Look it's just a deal gone wrong is all.....” Storm said as he was putting the car into park since they had reached the motel.

“Oh a deal gone wrong, is that all!!!”

“Calm down look no one got hurt so-”

“No one got hurt!? Did you look at your arm!?” Rain shouted as she pointed to her father's arm that was bleeding.

The shirt around his arm was torn and blood was dripping all over his arm. The three got off the vehicle and went inside the twos room. Mr. Storm went over to the sink and started to run water as he took off his shirt. Sunset found that walking felt a little funny and that she was a little wobbly on her feet so she sat on the bed with her satchel she fished from the bottom of the cars chair. Rain just went over to the counter and moved several items around till she found what she was looking for. It was a first aid kit and she quickly brought it over to her father who took it without saying anything. As Sunset looked around the whole scene looked rehearsed as if they had been through this before. The whole ordeal hadn’t really sunk in for Sunset since she was still in a bit of a daze from the hit.

“ARRGHH!!” Storm could be heard yelling as he pulled something from his arm.

Sunset only sat in her spot and watched the two as Rain brought moist towels and bottles of liquid for him to put on the wound. The grunts and groans along with all the paper towels that Rain was throwing away was more than enough to make Sunset start to question what in Tartarus was going on. She knew some kind of deal had gone wrong but it all happened so fast and it left her with everything spinning inside her head. After some more of Storm holding a gauze bandage on his lower arm to put pressure and then Rain was ready to wrap up his arm as it was now cleaned and ready. Rain just washed her hands from having dealt with all the bloody towels and such, the mood was still tense as no one had spoken since they entered the room.

Sunset held onto her satchel sitting on the bed hoping that what she was feeling would subside. Rain came up and sat next to her on the bed and stared at the wall in silence. Storm came up and sat across from the them in the next bed and cradled his wounded arm as he thought about what to say.

“Look, that was just a fuck up. A deal gone wrong is all, just gotta find see if that’s what it really was. I’ve only ever dealt with that guy a few times and so I thought it was just the usual delivery. I’m glad you weren’t hurt, the both of you I mean. I’m also glad that you took off in the car, but next time maybe don’t try and run us both over.” Storm said as he tried to get through to Rain who was clearly pissed off.

“I didn’t know what else to do!! I just reacted! Besides you could have been killed regardless!!” Rain said as she threw her arms up in the air.

“Ummm can someone tell me what happened and why? Sunset asked out of nowhere interrupting the moment the father daughter duo was sharing.
Mr. Storm still cradling his arm looked at Sunset right in the eyes and stood up from the bed.

“Look Sunset, seeing what just went down and from what you can guess I'm sure you know now that I’m a dealer. And being a dealer I'm sorry you got caught up in that whole ordeal, I'm just glad nothing happened to you two” Storm said.
Sunset didn’t want to say something stupid that tipped them off but she had to know what it was Mr. Storm dealt in.

“What do you deal? Is it something dangerous?” Sunset asked quickly before thinking.

“All drugs are dangerous to a degree Sunset, but this one doubly so” Storm replied as he grabbed little baggie from his pocket and threw it at Sunset. Sunset caught it instinctively but didn’t know what she was looking at. The substance was a pink powder with tiny crystals shinning within it. Sunset looked at the baggie until Storm was in front of her and plucked it out of her hand.

“This is that new designer stuff called X.C.-R356 or lovingly known as unicorn horn on the streets. You know the one, the one on the news and all over every cops radar, that one” Mr. Storm said as he tucked the baggie back into his front pocket.

“POPS! WHAT THE HELL!??DON’T TELL HER THAT!!” Rain yelled as she pointed at Sunset blatantly.
Sunset felt weirded out since it was clear she was supposed to stay in the dark about such things. Grabbing her satchel from the bed she walked towards the door.

“Sunset wait....” Rain said as Sunset opened the door and stepped out to go to her room.
She stuck the key in and went inside as Rain stood outside since she had followed her. There were a few knocks on the door as Sunset just sat in her bed trying her best to ignore Rain knocking away. Sunset went and turned on the television and left it on its high volume as it shouted away about something she needed in her life. After a little while the knocking stopped and Sunset was alone now with the t.v. On. she decided to spend the rest of the day in her room and try to see if she could make sense of everything that just happened. the name "Unicorn horn" for what she was just showed confused the hell out of her and so she wanted nothing more than to take a moment to herself.

She sat in the middle of her bed and replayed the scene of the ordeal in her mind over and over until she was satisfied, she had all the details down. She then let her mind drift from that subject to that of Equestria since she still needed to figure out what to do. This whole time she has been spending with Mr. Storm and Rain was time she could be figuring out her situation. She scolded herself and sat down to see if she could at least focus enough magic to move a coin which she placed upon the bed. Nothing happened for the longest time, but after what seemed like an eternity with her eyes closed and sweat pouring down her brow something happened. From the tiniest little pin prick of a sensation, she could lightly feel the coin in her mind. She tried to expand on that feeling but found that it took all she had to just feel that tiny amount of it. Her eyes opened up as she exhaled and lost all feeling of the coin in her mind. This wasn’t working out in Sunset’s favor and she needed to speed things up.

She immediately thought of the books she brought with her as a possible solution to her current problem. She thought deeply on the notion that the books would more than likely have a remedy for this predicament but also the fact that they might possibly drive her insane with such wild arcane magic. Sunset knew that one of the keys to possibly getting back to Equestria was to regain control of her magic, so that was something she was just going to have to work on. The rest of the day was spent trying to fully grasp the coin, but even feeling more than inch was seeming like an impossible mountain.
The hours slipped by as sun gradually went down and Sunset was getting frustrated with everything. The fact that she was in some kind of robbery, the fact that she was now here in this world, and the fact that she couldn’t grasp a damn coin to save her life. She felt that she would be laughed at by everyone she ever knew back in Equestria, she’d be a laughing stock. She grabbed the coin and flung it across the room at the door as a knock came through. Sunset got up and opened the door slightly in her usual way and saw Rain standing outside by herself. She was in her usual black pants but with a plain white shirt this time. She stood there with her hair blowing in her face as the wind started to pick up.
“Hey Sunset, I was gonna go and run some errands. Would you wanna come with me?” Rain asked looking a little iffy.
Sunset looked back at her empty room and thought about continuing her endeavor with the coin but decided to take a break.

“Ya sure, I guess I'll go since there’s nothing else going on right now” Sunset replied as she stepped out of the room and locked the door.

“Ok, let's do this, let's get going cuz I got a few stops to make.” Rain said as she took out some keys from her pocket and unlocked the car door that was parked in front of the rooms.
Sunset followed and got into the car, this time in a less suspicious manner. She sat there was Rain messed with her phone for a bit and plugged it into a cord that went into the car. Rain turned on the vehicle and pressed a button and as music blared, she was off.

“Your dads not coming with us?” Sunset asked over the music that went on in loops.

“Nah, he’s gotta stay back at the room and do something and make some calls. Sent me to go, plus I usually am the one to do this part!” Rain shouted over the music.

“The what part?!” Sunset asked confused, since she couldn’t hear all that well over Rain’s choice of music.

“Nevermind! We're almost to the first place, it's just around the corner here!” Rain replied as Sunset looked around at all the buildings they passed.

Some building were covered in neon lights while others looked like they were barley standing. It was a weird contrast as every color she saw seemed so vivid and in your face. The car came to a halt in front of a building with lights up front spelling the words “GAS STATION”.

“Wait here, ok.” Rain told Sunset as she left to go inside.

Sunset watched Rain as she talked to some man behind a counter, the man laughed and gave and unamused Rain a backpack. She returned back to the vehicle and threw the backpack into the back seat. She started the car and took off in another direction, they were a little bit away from the gas station when Sunset decided to turn around and look at the back pack.

“What did you get?” Sunset asked as she wondered what it could be.

“Chemical agents. But we need a few more things so were going to have to make a couple more stops.” Rain told her.
All this was painting a picture that Sunset wasn’t sure she was particularly fond of. Back in Equestria she had seen what drugs could do to ponies when she had to take a course having to with that. She wasn’t a prude she was just scared of the hard stuff. She would occasionally chew on “hazy leaf”, a plant that when chewed brought on a light euphoric sensation that would last for about an hour at a time. She always had to keep it secret since it was punishable with a fine.
Sunset snapped back to reality from her thoughts on her own light drug use and looked at Rain.

“Do you use the unicorn horn?” Sunset asked as she didn’t really know if prying in such a manner was ok.

Rain just sighed and turned down the music.

“Well.........”

Author's Note

Wear your seat belts people.