It was an unusually harsh winter in the city of Canterlot. There wasn’t too much snow, but the weather was extremely frigid and frosty, with temperatures seldom rising above 20 degrees Fahrenheit. The roads and sidewalks became slippery with large patches of black ice, which made it difficult to walk or drive anywhere.

The students of Crystal Prep Academy were finding things especially difficult. Crystal Prep may have been an expensive and prestigious private school, but for whatever reason, the superintendent of the school couldn’t be bothered to have the heating system fixed. As a result, nearly every classroom in the building was just as miserably cold as the outside. Most students began wearing extra layers underneath their uniforms.

Sunny Flare, however, seemed to be having no difficulties with the weather. The cold temperatures and icy roads often made her classmates late, which Principal Cinch did not take kindly to. Sunny, on the other hand, had managed to keep her perfect attendance record intact. She was naturally an early riser, and often arrived at school with several minutes to spare. This also meant that when her friends needed a lift, she was usually the one they texted.

On one particularly cold Monday morning, Sugarcoat accidentally overslept her alarm and had to hurry to get herself ready for school. As soon as she stepped out the door, the bitter winter wind smacked her right in the face. She groaned as she made her way down her driveway, struggling not to get blown over by the wind or slip on a patch of ice. She was relieved when she reached her car and got into the driver’s seat, but that relief didn’t last long. When she turned the key in the ignition, she heard no response from the engine. She muttered several curse words, then pulled her phone out of her pocket and texted Sunny Flare. “Car won’t start. Need a lift.”

Sunny was stopped at a red light downtown, just three blocks away from Crystal Prep, when she got Sugar’s text. “Figures.” she chuckled as she read it. “That girl really needs to get her car’s engine fixed.” She looked at the clock and saw that it was 7:47am. Since classes didn’t start until eight, she had plenty of time to pick up her friend. When the light turned green, Sunny made a right turn and drove to Sugar’s house.

Sunny pulled up in front of Sugar’s driveway and honked her horn to let Sugar know she was there. Sugar waved back and gingerly made her way down the icy driveway. She leaned against Sunny’s car as she opened the front passenger door and got inside. “Thanks for giving me a lift.” she said gratefully.

“No problem, dearie.” Sunny replied. “Although you really should get your car’s engine fixed. I’ve had my car longer than you’ve had yours, but you never see my car failing to start like that.”

“It’s the battery that won’t start, not the engine.” Sugar explained bluntly. “And that’s not a problem with the car, it’s just because the weather is so stupidly cold.”

“If you say so.” Sunny chuckled, even though Sugar was right.

Further down the road, the two girls encountered a traffic jam. “Now I’ll surely be late to class.” Sugar groaned.

Sunny winked. “Well, you’re with a good driver. I’ll get past these cars in no time.”

Sunny saw an opening to her right and went for it. She was soon breezing past the line of slow-moving cars, but it wasn’t long before she discovered the reason for the jam.

Lemon Zest was shivering as she stood next to her car, which had gone right through a wooden fence alongside the road. She watched as it was hoisted onto the back of a flatbed truck and taken away. Then she saw Sunny pull up behind her. Sunny rolled down the window. “Do you need a lift too?”

Lemon sighed. “Sure. My parents are going to kill me for this one, though…”

Lemon got into the back seat of Sunny’s car, and Sunny set off once again. “Well, that’s two of my friends who have broken cars this morning!” Sunny laughed as she drove toward the school.

“It’s not funny!” Lemon retorted. “I spun off on black ice and totally trashed my car. I’m lucky I wasn’t hurt!”

“And my car isn’t broken.” Sugar added. “I told you earlier, it’s just the battery. It doesn’t produce as much current on a cold morning like this.”

“Well, as long as nobody’s hurt, and I keep my perfect attendance record, I can laugh about it.” said Sunny. Sugar and Lemon rolled their eyes.

During the remainder of the week, Sunny noticed several more car accidents as she drove to and from school each day, all caused by black ice on the roads. “And another one bites the dust!” she would chuckle each time she drove past a crashed car. The more accidents she passed by, and the longer her prefect attendance record continued, the more boastful and insufferable she became.

“You know, you should really stop laughing about car accidents.” Sugar remarked. “People can get hurt in those things.”

“And it’s so annoying when all you do is talk about what a great driver you are.” Lemon put in. “You’re starting to sound like Scarlet, Chrome or Capri.”

“Don’t compare me to those three lowlifes.” Sunny scoffed. “Besides, you’re the one who’s been late three times this week. And it would have been four if I didn’t give you a lift on Monday.”

Lemon sighed. She could see there was no use arguing with Sunny. “Fine, but I swear, your perfect attendance record is going right to your head.”

“And with how fast you like to drive, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re the next person to go flying off the road.” said Sugar.

Sunny laughed. “Me get into an accident? Never going to happen! Even in the worst weather, I always abide by the rules of the road.”

“Sure, keep telling yourself that.” Sugar retorted. “Don’t tempt fate.”

Over the following month, the weather changed. Temperatures rose above freezing again, but the rain came in hard and fast. The city became muddy and wet, and a series of storms brought down trees and power lines, causing several citywide blackouts. No one wanted to go outside, but despite the rotten weather, Principal Cinch refused to cancel school.

The morning after a particularly fierce storm, Sunny was driving along her usual route to school, splashing through giant puddles as she went. Her records of perfect school attendance and zero damage to her car had both remained intact through the deep freeze, and she wasn’t about to let a rainstorm wash them away.

All was going well, and Sunny was on course to be several minutes early again. But as she turned onto the downtown avenue that led to Crystal Prep, a striped barricade and an orange sign reading “ROAD CLOSED” barred her way. Noticing a construction worker standing nearby, Sunny rolled her window down to demand an explanation.

“Several trees have fallen down and blocked this street.” the construction worker explained. “If you think not being able to use this road is inconvenient, why don’t you try standing out here all day?”

“Yeah, you have a point.” Sunny admitted. “Thanks.” She rolled her window back up, and rather than turn down the closed avenue, she continued straight along the road she was already on.

This detour took her along a road that ran next to a grassy hillside. It may not have been raining anymore, but the roads were still slippery and the wind was as strong as ever. Sunny was heading for trouble. A large tree branch was suddenly blown off, crashing down onto the road ahead. Sunny saw it happen and slammed on the brakes, but it was too late. Her car slid helplessly on the damp road and crashed into the branch with a loud crunch.

“Dammit!” Sunny exclaimed. She angrily flung open her door and got out to inspect the damage. Unfortunately, she was being careless and didn’t notice a patch of wet mud at the edge of the road. She slipped on the mud and immediately went tumbling head over heels down the hill. She slid to the bottom and groaned, feeling sore and stunned. She spit mud out of her mouth, then looked at herself and groaned again. Her uniform was completely ruined, covered in splotches of wet mud and blades of wet grass.

Sunny sighed and got to her feet again. With some difficulty, she climbed back up to the road, pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, and called for a tow truck. She spent the next half hour waiting by the side of the road, feeling wet and miserable. “The day’s barely even started and already it’s ruined.” she muttered to herself. To make matters worse, she couldn’t even go back home and change into a clean set of clothes.

After what felt like an eternity, a tow truck arrived on the scene. The truck driver got out and after surveying the damage, hooked Sunny’s car up with the winch. “Wow, bad luck for you!” he remarked to Sunny. “What’s your name?”

“Sunny Flare.” Sunny replied.

“Well then, Miss Sunny Flare,” said the tow truck driver, “I’ll call ahead to the service station and take your car there. I’m also going to call the utility crews – someone needs to clear that tree off the road.” Sunny waited as the tow truck driver made the two phone calls. After he was finished, he turned back to Sunny. “Where were you headed? I can give you a ride there if you want.”

“Um… sure.” said Sunny. “I was just on my way to school at Crystal Prep.”

“Oh, then that’s not too far away from here.” the tow truck driver remarked. “I’ll get you there in no time. Hop in!” He opened the passenger door of the truck, and Sunny climbed in.

“Thanks for giving me a lift.” Sunny said as she rode in the tow truck. “I wasn’t expecting you to let me in, given how disgusting I am right now…”

“Not a problem.” the tow truck driver chuckled. “I’ve worked plenty of dirty jobs before. What happened to you, though? You look like you took a tumble!”

Sunny sighed, and explained what happened.

“Oh no!” the tow truck driver laughed when Sunny was finished. “You’ve got to be more careful in weather like this!”

Sunny didn’t find her situation funny at all, but she couldn’t disagree.

When they reached Crystal Prep, Sunny got out and thanked the tow truck driver again. The tow truck driver smiled and waved goodbye, then drove away to the service station. Sunny was feeling somewhat better because of how friendly and helpful the tow truck driver had been, but reality soon hit her again. She looked at the clock on her phone and saw that it was now 8:34am, which meant she was more than half an hour late to her first class. She sighed heavily as she walked into the school.

The moment she walked in, she encountered Principal Cinch, who did not look pleased at all. “Sunny Flare!” Cinch said sharply. “First period started over half an hour ago! Just what is the meaning of this?”

“I – I can explain!” Sunny stuttered. “It wasn’t my fault, I…”

“No excuses!” Cinch barked. “Go to my office, right now!”

Sunny sighed again and trudged down the hall to the principal’s office, where Cinch gave her a very long, drawn-out lecture on the importance of punctuality, and how students arriving late to school were damaging to Crystal Prep’s “reputation”. She finished by assigning Sunny three detentions before sending her to her first class.

When Sunny arrived at her History class, first period was nearly over. Nearly everyone in the room cackled when she walked in.

“What happened to you, dude?” Lemon Zest burst out. “Did the weather finally make you slip up?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Sunny growled.

“Well, you should consider taking a shower.” Sugarcoat giggled. “You look like you rolled around in somebody’s backyard for a day, and you smell like a wet dog!”

“Seriously, you have to tell us what happened to you!” Indigo Zap howled. “I can’t even look at you without keeping a straight face!”

“Fine.” Sunny sighed. She reluctantly told her friends all about her accident on her way to school. When she finished, everyone burst out laughing again.

“Well, there goes your perfect attendance record!” Lemon snickered.

“And your safe driving record!” Sugar chortled.

“I guess we should call you Muddy Flare from now on!” Indigo teased.

“Just don’t talk to me for the rest of the day.” Sunny hissed.

Sunny spent a very long, uncomfortable day in her ruined uniform. She was relieved when she could finally go home. As soon as she got back to her house, she took a long shower and changed into a set of clean clothes.

After that day, the rotten winter weather finally disappeared. Temperatures became warmer again, and sunny blue skies returned. The students of Crystal Prep began looking forward to the spring, and the upcoming Friendship Games against Canterlot High. Sunny was relieved that the winter was over, but it was soon clear that she was never going to live her accident down. Needless to say, she didn’t find weather-related accidents funny anymore.

Author's Note

This was just a random idea I had a few days ago, and I thought it would make a funny story. Since Sunny Flare is probably the least developed out of the five Shadowbolts, I though it would be interesting to put her in the lead role.

This story takes place before Friendship Games. Scarlet Flames, Chrome Streak and Capri Blitz are OCs from another story of mine called Road Rebels.