Parasite Eve: Fuse

Doctor Cadenza Amore sat behind her desk, looking over patient files as she enjoyed the breeze from the hall. She always kept an open door policy at MIST, feeling that the simple fact she was available to them whenever helped ease the minds of her charges, however slight a relief it may be. Not that she expected much traffic today: Only she, Rupert, Twilight and Sunset were in and she already had her appointment with the last one earlier that morning.

Almost as soon as she had the thought, the girl in question walked past her door, giving a small wave as she passed. Cadence smiled back and returned to her files, moving on to the most recent hunter reports. She knew the OC we’re getting back from their investigation today but nothing in their report suggested anything she’d have to be present for.

She noticed Twilight jog past her door next with a grin, clearly in a rush to whatever peaked her excitement. She shook her head with an affectionate smile, knowing Twilight was sure to gush about it later if it was important. She was mildly concerned about the surges of energy she was feeling from her sister-in-law, but nothing had exploded yet so she didn’t worry on it any further.

She then saw Sunset amble past again. It earned a furrowed brow but nothing more as she shrugged it off, figuring the young hunter in training was probably just bored.

However, the pair then jogged past again a few minutes apart. It was finally after seeing their staggered passing twice more that her curiosity got the better of her. She intercepted Twilight the next time the doctor came by.

“What ARE you two doing?” she asked with a bemused grin. Twilight blinked before scratching at her cheek with a light blush.

“Oh, sorry if we’re distracting you” the scientist gave a small chuckle “I’m trying to help Sunset get the hang of her mitochondrial senses.”

The redhead herself came around the corner a moment later. Her searching look turned to concern as she approached the sisters-in-law.

“I didn’t think you felt that far. Is everything alright?”

“Oh everything’s fine, Cadence was just wondering why we keep running back and forth past her office” Twilight assured her and turned back to her former babysitter “I get a headstart and then Sunset tries to figure out what room I'm in by only what her Mitochondria are telling her. Sure, we won’t be reaching anywhere near Rarity levels of precision, but it’ll still help. That’s why you keep feeling me use my powers, I’m just trying to make it more obvious since she’s just starting out.”

“Sooooo… you’re playing Hide and Seek?” Cadence concluded with a smirk. Sunset chuckled as her current teacher gave a huff.

“We’re trying to develop Sunset’s extrasensory abilities.” the scientist clarified.

“By playing Hide and Seek” the counselor reiterated, still thoroughly amused.

“Super powered Hide and Seek” Sunset added with a jovial grin, earning a look of her own from the scientist. Even in just the short time with MIST, she had picked up how fun it was to tease the woman, prodigy status notwithstanding. She was also hardly the only one to do it, but to Twilight's credit, she took it in stride. In fact, she actually seemed to enjoy the affectionate barbs most of the time, and could even strike back with some good ones of her own when the mood struck her.

“Can I play?” the pair blinked at the counselor’s earnest request. Twilight then hummed approvingly.

“That could actually help a lot. You have a much subtler signature than I do and it’d help her learn to differentiate.” The counselor smiled warmly but the mood was interrupted by Rupert leaving his office with an abrupt urgency.

“What’s wrong?” Cadence quickly asked.

“Just got a call from Gertrude, they found NMCs in the school’s basement.”

“Oh no, none of the kids were-”

“No- No, everyone’s fine” he quickly assured them “It’s just a pack of rats stuck down there.”

“A mischief” the trio all glanced at the scientist’s statement “A collective of rats is called a mischief.”

“Yeah, well I got a mischief to exterminate” the director returned casually, adjusting his shoulder holster and turning away. Cadence frowned as they moved to follow him.

“By yourself?”

“It’s just some rats, Doctor. Besides, I have no choice,” he explained “Apple and Dash are on the other side of Downtown, tracking a possibly infected cat and the OC don’t land for another couple hours. I’d rather not leave this any longer after what happened last month.”

“I could come with.” Sunset tried not to wince at the flat look she received. “Yeah I know, I’ve only been in training a couple weeks but I’m sure I’ve at least learned enough to not accidentally shoot you. I’ve studied the classifications and, considering how calmly you’re all talking, I’m guessing these aren’t the ones that throw fire.”

“...Probably not.” Rupert gave after a pause.

“Those have actually been incredibly rare since the blockade” Twilight commented, tapping her chin absently.

“I think I’ve learned enough to not die against one of the weakest kinds of NMCs. Especially if you’re there too” she added with a hint of a smile. The director didn’t seem impressed.

“You’ll find flattery doesn’t work on me Miss Shimmer” he said bluntly before looking to the counselor. She gave him a nod. “But yeah, okay. Go grab your gear.”

“All of it?” the redhead did her best not to show her excitement.

“Yes, including the limb guards.” he shook his head as she promptly took off to the locker room. He waited with the remaining pair and sighed “It’s too soon.”

“Better for her to be a little sloppy than to make you go alone. And it is just rats.” Twilight offered.

“NMC rats. Those can still kill...” he pointed out. “Aya goes on assignments alone all the time.”

“And you hate that.” Cadence countered.

“Yeah, that’s why I’m letting this happen at all… not that she’d follow the example even if she were here.”

“You’re still a good influence on the rest of us” Twilight smiled sweetly, managing to bring a slight reflection of it to the flustered man. It didn’t even falter much as Sunset came back, geared up and looking confident. He jerked his head for her to follow, though Candance set a hand on her arm to stop the girl.

“Don’t take advantage, but flattery totally works on him” she whispered to her before sending her off with a wink. Sunset nodded and made for the garage, hearing Twilight trying to suppress a giggle behind her.

Rupert’s car was a simple four door Sedan, she believed they were called, though any details beyond that she wouldn’t have the faintest idea. It was nice inside; more luxurious than Fluttershy’s or Dash’s vehicles, not to mention significantly cleaner on the inside than the latter. She once more marveled at the comfort features humans had built into the contraptions; the air conditioning and heating being the most appreciated. Not that she didn’t often travel in style as the princess’s apprentice, but even her carriages lacked the simple concept that were seat belts.

‘They did have cup holders though’ she acknowledged.

“Alright Shimmer, this is not normal procedure. I know you think you know what we’re going against but the last thing you should ever be is overconfident when NMCs are involved. Even ‘just rats’ can still kill people.” Rupert informed her. His tone was stern but not aggressive as they pulled out of underground parking “You stay behind me and do exactly as I say. Understood?”

“Yes sir. Your lead, to the letter” she confirmed. She knew this was an exception, and while used to having exceptions made for her, she knew better than to take it for granted with Rupert. He may be a rather gruff individual but his first concern was the safety of his subordinates. He had shown himself a competent leader from her observations; tough but understanding, mostly knowing when to stand firm on something and when to give in. She had already seen faults true, but he was certainly better than half those she had observed back home.

‘Even Celestia wasn’t perfect, as I learned the hard way.’ she thought bitterly. She still respected her former teacher’s ability to lead however, especially as she had managed to do it fairly successfully for at least a millenia. She had the suspicion her former mentor would have approved of the man’s method, even if it was notably different than her own.

“Mind your fire lanes in there” Rupert continued as they hit a red light.

“No barrel sweeping. Yes, Pinkie’s been particularly insistent on the basics, that included.”

“Well yes, that too. Though I was speaking more about not damaging anything.” he clarified “They’re a public school; the last thing they need is us shooting their boiler full of holes.”

“Be doubly aware of what’s beyond my target and keep collateral to a minimum. Got it.” she returned. Rupert nodded without taking his eyes off the road. The rest of the ride passed in relative silence and it wasn’t long until they were pulling up in front of the school. A police cruiser was a short ways ahead of them with a uniformed officer standing by.

They climbed out of the car and Rupert raised an acknowledging hand toward the cop before moving to the sedan’s trunk, receiving a wave back. He reached into the storage and fished out Sunset’s current primary: An MP5A5. It used the same bullets as the p229 on loan to her from Aya, but with full-auto and significantly more control. As Pinkie had put it, the gun practically shot itself. Rupert then removed another revolver similar, if a bit smaller, to his own.

“Do you normally take two pistols?” She asked curiously.

“No, but like I said, we need to be careful: the Mongoose tends to over penetrate small targets,” he explained as he looped a second holster along his belt and swapped the smaller gun into his shoulder harness.

“Mongoose? I thought Pinkie called it an Anaconda.”

“It is an Anaconda, but I had it customized enough for my daughter to give it a name.”

“You have a daughter?”

“I did.”

‘Did, past tense. Shut up Sunset’ she mentally corrected. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it” the director gave with no particular inflection as he closed the trunk and made his way over to the cop. “Sunset Shimmer, this is Officer Flash Sentry, one of Canterlot’s finest. He also has a habit of being the one called in whenever MIST has to meddle in things.”

“I guess I’m just lucky” the young man quipped. He was taller than Sunset but didn’t quite reach Rupert’s height and was fairly handsome, for a human. He extended a hand to the novice hunter “Nice to meet you, Miss Shimmer.”

“Officer Sentry” she returned cordially, taking the offered hand.

“Just you?” Rupert asked, examining the courtyard.

“You know how it goes, too many cruisers show up and people start getting worried” he shrugged “And start asking questions. And before you ask: no, I didn’t find anything on perimeter check. Nothing’s found its way out.”

“Good. The Principal inside?”

“Just Vice-Principal Luna at the moment, her sister’s still inroute. She’s waiting just inside the entrance.” the director nodded and Officer Sentry tilted his head knowingly “I’ll keep the perimeter?”

“Yes, thank you. Come on Shimmer” they broke from the officer and continued on. It took Sunset a good deal of discipline to not stop and study the statue they were now passing. She repressed a chill that tried to take her as they crossed the threshold, pushing away the memories of her last visit to the school. A woman with dark violet hair tapping her foot anxiously let her focus her attention, fortunately.

“Mr. Broderick, I hope you take no offence when I say I hadn’t wished to see you again so soon” she gave grimly, but not insultingly, the moment she spotted them.

“Believe me Mz. Oliver, I feel the same way. No offence taken in the least.” he returned. The vice-principal gave a shadow of a begrudging smile before gesturing for them to follow.

“Our janitors' have been noting something moving around in the basement for a few days now, but it wasn’t until Sam was locking up when something lunged at him. Thankfully, he batted it away with his broom handle and escaped up the stairs.” she explained as she walked “He told Mrs. Apple and she immediately called you and has been standing guard outside the door ever since.”

“Mrs. Apple?” Sunset asked before she could stop herself.

“Jacquelyn’s grandmother” Rupert answered simply. They turned a corner to find an older woman decked out in hockey pads and holding a baseball bat ready, eyes glued to the double doors before her. Luna sighed and muttered to the hunters

“Before you think the worst of us, I didn’t ask her to stand guard. She simply refused to let anyone else.”

“Don’t worry, I’m well acquainted with the Apple family stubbornness” he returned understandingly “We can take it from here Ma’am, you should go wait for your sister.”

Luna looked like she wanted to argue but made her way back to the entrance without a fuss. Rupert called out as they closed on the door.

“It’s okay Gertrude, you can stand down now.”

“Huh?! Oh, Rupert!” the woman turned, showing a face younger than Sunset had been expecting. When she heard grandma, her mind had gone to elderly, but Mrs. Apple didn’t look like she was beyond her fifties. Though the redhead did admit to herself that she simply may not be that good at judging human ages yet. The elder’s orange eyes landed on her next “And you must be tha’ new girl. Sunrise, wazzit?”

“Sunset” she politely corrected.

“Yea, that was it!” she smiled and turned back to the bald man “Jackie off chase’n somethin’ else Ah take it?”

“She’ll catch up in a little while” he answered cryptically “You didn’t have to stand guard-”

“Like heck Ah didn’t! Ah wasn’t ‘bout to let any of these critters get out ta ruin any more lives. An’ Ah was the bes’ won here ta’do it! Ain’t like Ah can get infected twice!” she declared passionately. Her brow did furrow right after though “Can Ah be infected twice?”

“You would be the first” he answered more candidly this time before regarding his charge “You ready?”

Sunset gave a strong nod, her expression set as she shouldered the sub-machine gun. He didn’t look terribly convinced but returned the nod all the same.

“Right. Again, try to stay within sight and keep your eyes peeled. Rats aren’t too strong but they’re quick and their bites are nothing to sneeze at.” he reiterated and took point through the door.

“Ah’ll be up here, just in case any find ther’ way past ya.” the Apple matron called as the double doors closed behind them.

The staircase was wide, and railed on both sides with a ramp making up one half. Sunset guessed it was for getting the mop bucket up and down easier. They stuck to the more stable stairs until they reached the bottom, where the basement’s lights were thankfully still on to let them see the surprisingly spacious area. Shelves and a few clusters of pipes blocked a lot of their sight lines, earning an irritated, though mindfully low huff from the rookie hunter.

“You were learning to use your senses earlier, right?” Rupert asked quietly with his revolver up, sweeping over the shelves. “You feel anything?”

“There’s… something down here with us.” she hesitated, trying to focus before having to accept that was it. She continued with a dejected note “Sorry… that’s all I got.”

“That’s all I expected” she received back in a lighter tone “Don’t get down on yourself kid, even Aya needs a motion tracker to get pinpoint data. Belle’s the only hunter out there that’s honed their senses enough to give numbers and locations.”

The redhead took solace in that fact, letting her frustration ease and shook away the distracting thoughts. Now wasn’t the time to lose focus. They moved by the first set of shelves, each scanning their sides. She mentally kicked herself when she saw Rupert turn to give a quirker glance through what she just searched when she had just moved to the next aisle.

‘Redundant sweeps, right’ she clicked on her gun's under barrel flashlight and shone it across Rupert’s side before they fell into an alternating search. NMC were rarely clever, but they had enough instinct to usually wait until you were turned away to attack, hence the second set of eyes double checking.

As if to prove the precaution’s use, a loud clattering sounded as a hairy mass crashed through a collection of spray bottles the moment Sunset’s light left an aisle. A deep boom reverberated through the enclosed space as Rupert fired a snap shot toward the noise.

“Forward!” he ordered before the Sunset had even blinked away the spots from the flash. They sprinted into a more open area with a concrete pillar at its center. The director put his back against one side and glanced for her to take the other. Another crash rang out as she took position, seeing a blur knocked out of the air in her peripheral as she heard Rupert fire again. She didn’t have time to look as another skittered out from beneath a pallet of boxes.

It shrieked and flailed back as she snapped her aim to it, her flashlight’s beam stunning it long enough for her to get her first proper look at it. Its hair was tattered and filthy and its teeth and gums stretched too far beyond its face in an almost crab-like pincer. The legs fruitlessly swiping at the light also seemed too long and well defined. It fell back to all fours and squinted through the light, raising a thick, stinger tipped tail with a hiss. While each trait was disturbing in its own right, it was the size of the beast that gave her pause.

The thing was the size of a small bulldog.

Another shriek escaped the creature before it charged the rookie hunter, snapping her out of her stunned state. She pulled the trigger and a trio of shots burst from her gun, slamming into the rapidly closing NMC. It fell back and died with a final, disheartening spasm.

She didn’t have time to dwell as another charged her from the side. She turned and opened fire, her aim unfortunately being a notch too high as it peppered the cement just behind the creature. She couldn’t readjust before it leapt up and clamped down on her arm, squeezing painfully even through her vambraces.

She cried out as she flung her arm to the side and bashed the pest against the pillar. It let go after the second hit and quickly fell to the point blank burst that found its face.

Another hiss sounded from the shelves, alerting her to the threat behind her. With no desire for another close call, she clicked the select fire and emptied the rest of her magazine at the oversized rodent. She shredded a box of cheap toilet paper and punched a few holes through the thin metal shelf near it as well, but at least the rat wasn’t moving anyone.

She moved to pull another magazine from her belt but stopped at the almost unnatural silence that found her. She peaked around the column to see Rupert calmly reloading his revolver with the corpses of six rats spread out on his side.

“How many you get?” he asked simply, the adrenaline still coursing through her making her jump at just the words.

“Oh, um… three.” He gave a non-commental grunt before snapping the cylinder closed and glanced across to her work. His gaze lingered on the mangled box of now ruined fluff and gave a notably more commental grunt.

“That’s probably all of them, most NMCs don’t just sit around after the fight starts. Stay here and stand watch, I’ll clear the rest of the shelves.”

“Yes sir.” she gave quietly, eyes to the ground. She pulled the empty magazine from her gun and stuffed it away, moving away from the pillar for better a sight line. She realized there was a subtle sizzling sound filling the silence and saw the rats were already starting to melt.

“Gross…”

Apparently the same heightened metabolism that made her need to eat like a pig is also what drove NMCs to be so violent. They were literally always hungry, and with their mitochondria unrestrained, that hunger was cranked up to eleven. It also left them with the unpleasant trait of their cells self cannibalizing to try to sustain themselves when they died, rapidly breaking down the body into a slimy goo. She just recently learned that MIST had almost as many cleanup specialists as they did hunters.

She pulled out a full mag when another truth hit her.

She could still sense something.

A form much larger than the rats erupted from a pile of loose pallets with a wail. It lowered its head and stepped into the light, revealing the shape of an emaciated NMC. It was the same kind with the hunched posture and skull faced visage as those that had chased around the school her first time there, what MIST dubbed as a Stranger. Unfortunately the fact it was starving only seemed to make it more desperate. Sunset scrambled away, frantically fumbling at her attempts to load the magazine when it charged.

Rupert heard the commotion and could see Sunset struggling as he sprinted back. He could hear the Stanger’s plodding steps and see its shadow through the shelves but didn’t have a clean shot. A cold hand gripped his heart as he realized he couldn’t intercept before it reached her. He stopped and drew his Mongoose, instinctually assuming a classic shooter's stance that was steady as a statue. He waited for the assuredly brief window, as focused as he’d ever been: he’d only get one chance. Movement flashed at the end of the aisles and Rupert tensed-

Then blinked at the sight of an MP5 bouncing off the Stranger’s face, stunning it enough to halt its charge.

Flames had already began to dance along the redhead’s forearm when the stranger’s head exploded at the sound of Rupert's hand cannon. She sagged with relief as the body fell lifeless to the ground and Rupert walked back into view. She noticed him glance at her dwindling flames, arching a brow as he gave another quiet grunt. She was honestly starting to wonder if was ever going to be able to get a decent read on the man. She suddenly jumped again at a shout that came echoing from the stairs.

“Did’ya get’em all? Ah don’ feel as much as I did so Ah hope it’s jus’ the new girl!” Gertrude called out. The marksman looked to said ‘new girl’ expectantly. Catching on, she closed her eyes to concentrate. After a moment they reopened and she shook her head with a hopeful smile.

“I don’t feel anything else.”

“Good enough” The director gave simply and headed back to the stairs. The Apple matron met them at the doors.

“Glad ta see it’s you two climb’n back up” she smiled before immediately collapsing into a folding chair and started rubbing her feet “Woo, my dogs are bark’n! Buggers might be make’n me young again, but not stand’n guard for hours young.”

“Thanks for the backup Gertrude” Rupert gave with a small smirk.

“Yeah yeah…” she waved off “New girl babysitt’n?”

“No, Jacquelyn will be by when she’s done” he answered as he checked his phone.

“Ah’ll be sure ta let’er know she missed all the fun” she grinned at them before leaning back with a content sigh “Ya’ll take care then.”

“Gertrude” the director gave before they made their way back to the courtyard. She saw the Vice-Principal waiting with Officer Sentry, chatting pleasantly with the man. Rupert spoke before they got any closer though “You can hang back for a breather if you want, let your adrenaline wane. You won’t have to deal with this part for a while yet.”

Normally she would say she’s fine and learn as much as she could, but her new boss just gave her an opportunity. She accepted and hung back, waiting until he started speaking with the pair before she discreetly made her way to the statue at the courtyard’s center. She tentatively put out a hand as soon as she was close enough, taking a deep breath before letting her weight fall forward.

She stopped only a couple inches later, hand firmly pressed against the still very solid base.

‘Didn’t think so…’ She stepped back with a sigh. She really hadn’t expected the portal to be open, and she was far from done learning everything she wanted from this world, but a small part of her still couldn’t help but be disappointed.

She found herself studying the stone equine top of the structure as a distraction. The horses of this world certainly wouldn’t have been considered particularly attractive by pony standards, but they did still manage to capture at least some sense of majesty. She supposed there could have been far worse parallels to her species. Then, as if almost to mock the thought:

“Sunset Shimmer?”

The former pony froze at the voice, her blood running cold. It wasn’t possible. She wouldn't have followed her through, not at the risk of not being able to get back to the kingdom she was responsible for. Not just to find a wayward student. Least of all she just couldn’t be there because Sunset simply wasn’t anywhere close to ready to face her yet.

Yet all the same, she spun around to the speaker with wide eyes to see the now bipedal but unmistakable form of her former mentor.

“Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you!” Rationality flooded through the redhead at the words. They weren’t spoken with a sense of familiarity. They were the words of a complete, if kindly voiced, stranger. It was Celestia, it just wasn’t her Celestia.

“Oh-um… n-no, I’m fine!” she tried to compose herself, responding a little more loudly than she intended. The multi-colored haired woman just smiled warmly though; warmly enough to tug at that small part of her again.

“Of course” the doppelganger gave soothingly. She was humoring her but Sunset was surprised to find herself not really minding “Not that I could blame if you were a bit jumpy. I can’t imagine what it’s like to not even remember yourself.”

To say Sunset was caught off by the sentiment would be an understatement.

“H-How did you-”

“Oh, I’m sorry!” she quickly offered again with a wince. “I really don’t mean to keep scaring you. Since you were found here, MIST had asked if you were one of our students. They also more recently asked us to check our graduate records; that’s when the excitable young woman on the phone let it slip that you had lost your memory. Though I’m sorry to say I can’t give you any leads by saying you were ever one of my students…”

‘If only you knew the irony’ Sunset smiled sadly before shrugging “That’s not your fault.”

Celestia looked to be about to respond when Rupert called that they were leaving.

“Oh, I uh-” Sunset began before the principal smiled understandingly.

“Of course. Good luck in finding yourself Miss Shimmer, I sincerely hope it’s something worth finding.” She bid her farewell before going to join her sister.

Rupert didn’t say anything as they loaded their gear back into the trunk. He didn’t say anything as she climbed into her seat either. He didn’t even say anything after he began driving them to their next destination. It suited Sunset just fine, her brief chat with her mentor’s double leaving her in such a daze that she wasn’t sure she would have even noticed if he did. It was only several minutes after what she was sure was long enough to get back to MIST headquarters that she pulled herself out of it, realizing they hadn’t.

“Where are we going?”

“The airport, the OC should have just landed. All processed then?” he asked patiently. Sunset quickly realized that he'd been waiting for her to internally sort out the fight. She hadn’t even thought about it, but she determined there’d be time to go think about that later.

“Yeah, um… thanks.”

“Good” he nodded, “I wanted to go over your performance before we had an audience.”

‘Oooorrrr I can think about it now…’ the rest of the trip was filled with him pointing out mistakes she made and then having her answer of what she could have done instead. It wasn’t a pleasant event but she knew it had to happen. She did notice that he never seemed to get upset though, which she hoped was a good sign. They also thankfully made good time, limiting the exchange a little.

They pulled up to the waiting area and Sunset climbed out to get in the back at Rupert’s request. As she was transferring, a merry shout drew her attention to a pair of women in suits approaching with luggage. The first was wearing the full ensemble, blazer and all with only an unbuttoned collar signaling any thought for comfort. The other seemed far less concerned with appearing professional, blazer draped over a shoulder and several buttons more free than her companion.

“Hey-Hey! It’s Sleeping Beauty!” the casual woman with short cyan and white striped hair beamed at her. The trunk popped a moment later, the pair moving to unload as it did “Oh ho, looks like you two had some fun on the way.”

The more well cut of the two smiled at Sunset, gesturing to the door. Catching herself, she quickly climbed in at the signal. The other woman flopped down into the back next to the newest hunter.

“Nice to see you rejoin the living! Shimmer, right? Lyra Heartstrings” Lyra gave with a bright smile and settled in.

“Bonavire Drops” the one with blue and pink hair gave cordially from the front seat.

“You can just call her Bonnie” Lyra winked “So how’ya doin boss? Hope the guns in back don’t mean we missed anything serious.”

“Just some rats” he returned simply. Most of the trip back was spent in debrief between him and Bonnie, Lyra chiming in when necessary... and occasionally when not. As the report winded down though, the latter turned her attention back to Sunset.

“SO, you got to get out into the field a little early huh?” she leaned in “How’d ya do?”

Sunset tried to fight off a blush and grimaced. Before she could answer though, Rupert did it for her.

“She did alright,” he said simply. Sunset’s head snapped back up at the statement.

“W-Wait, What? Really?” Lyra gave a chuckle at the girl’s expression.

“Let me guess, he was giving you a right proper tear down about everything you did wrong the whole way here?”

“Not the whole way. He did wait for me to… sort things.”

“Aw, you big softy” Lyra very lightly punched the director’s arm, which earned a flat look from him and an eye roll from her partner.

“Hmmm.” He hummed and then glanced to Bonnie. “Still, it’d be better if she didn’t have to throw her gun next time. She’ll need someone to help her with reloading drills.”

“Not a problem.” The woman in the front seat said immediately. Lyra shot the rookie an incredulous smirk.

“You really throw your gun at ‘em?”

“It’d worked” she shrugged, earning a hearty laugh from the senior hunter.

“Anyone get hurt?” Bonnie asked.

“No…” Sunset returned hesitantly, consciously not rubbing at her still sore arm.

“Any NMCs get away?” Lyra asked next.

“No.” Rupert answered.

“Then you did good,” the golden eyed hunter declared and draped an arm around the novice’s shoulders. “Everyone got out safe and there’s no risk of spread. That’s all that matters!”

“Not All that matters” Bonnie corrected, giving her partner a brief look “But yes, you seemed to have done acceptably, all things considered.”

Rupert didn’t say anything at the assessment, but he didn’t disagree either.

‘Well, at least that’s something.’

Sunset was sitting at the dining room table, her borrowed laptop in front of her playing a funny cat video. Rupert had given her the rest of the day off, after having another season with Cadence, at least. It… helped, though honestly Sunset really didn’t see what the big deal was. Sure she had been scared a couple times and her arm was a little bruised, but she made it out fine.

‘Maybe human’s are just more sensitive to that stuff than ponies’

She browsed through the list as the video ended, not much feeling like researching too much after the day she had. She may not be traumatized, but she was tired. Fluttershy was currently, well, fluttering about the kitchen of the open space, singing softly to herself as she made dinner. She said even though she hadn’t used her powers, Sunset’s mitochondria would have still been agitated by the distress and that eating would make her feel better. She wasn’t complaining; Fluttershy was actually a pretty good cook.

The front door slammed open and shut, making the nurse jump a little. She let out a breath when she saw it was only Dash coming in. The colorful mane bobbed as its owner seemed in a hurry and then stopped when she spotted Sunset with an incredulous grin.

“Did you seriously throw your gun at Stranger?!”

“Ugh, yes…”

The mechanic’s laughter filled the house as she braced against a wall.

“Dashie…” Fluttershy scolded gently.

“It worked!” The novice hunter defended herself.

“Yeah, yeah, fair enough” Rainbow relented, laughter petering out as she headed off to shower and change. She came back out just a little while later, falling onto the couch and flicking on the TV as they waited for Fluttershy to finish.

“You guys manage to find that cat?” Sunset asked.

“Oh yeah,” she said over her shoulder “Turns out it wasn’t infected, just really sick.”

“Ohhh…” the pink haired girl cooed sadly.

“Don’t worry Flutters, we took it to a vet” Dash consoled her housemate “They found a chip and called the owners. The old cat just got lost when their kid brought it to a sleepover or something. Vet said it should be fine.”

“That’s good” Fluttershy breathed out before shuffling her feet a little “...Thank you.”

“Hey, I know better than to leave a sick animal in the same city as you. I might not live to see tomorrow” Fluttershy rolled her eyes at the mechanic smirking back at her “But yeah, no worries.”

The chime of the timer went off and Fluttershy loaded the plates. Dash tried to take hers to the couch before the nurse snagged her by the elbow and dragged her to the table. As expected, it was quite good; good enough that Sunset was tempted to just focus on her food. With that little display of closeness though, she thought she might be able to get some more information without coming off as suspicious.

“So you guys have known each other since high school, right?”

“Oh yeah,” Dash answered through a mouthful of mashed potatoes “Actually most of us at the Canterlot branch went to highschool together. Pinkie, AJ, Rares, the OC, uhhhh…”

“Bulk” Fluttershy added as Dash was listing them off on her fingers. She nodded and put up another.

“Yeah, pretty much everyone but the originals” she concluded “Huh, I knew about our click but hadn’t really realized it with the others. Weird.”

“The originals?” Sunset parroted.

“Rupert, Aya, Jodie, Pierce,” Fluttershy listed off herself as she answered “And everyone else from before MIST went independent.”

“Me and Flutters have known each other forever though” Dash smiled and then tilted her head at the thought “Literally as long as I can remember actually… I don’t even remember how we met.”

“I remember.” the nurse declared with a touch of pride.

“Yeah?”

“Mhmm” she hummed with a smile of her own “We were both little more than toddlers. Your family had just moved here from Cloudsdale and threw a pool party to get to know the neighborhood. You just couldn’t wait to show everyone how brave you were by jumping off the diving board.”

Dash’s laugh echoed down the halls again at the imagery.

“That does sound like me.”

“I didn’t want anything to do with it but you were determined to get me in on the ‘fun’. Took a bit but you somehow convinced me to the edge.” she shook her head with a fond grin “I took one look at the water and tried to run.”

“You didn’t jump?” Sunset asked.

“No” a slight blush rose to her cheeks as she played with her food a little “I slipped and belly flopped right into the pool.”

The admission set the pair into a fit of giggles. Fluttershy even gave a small chuckle herself.

“Hey, I say that still counts!” Dash claimed, earning a warm look from the nurse.

“And you did” she gave and looked back to Sunset “The first thing I saw when I came up was Rainbow cheering that I did it. We’ve been like sisters ever since.”

“Cool!” the mechanic exclaimed and raised her glass in a mock toast “I learned something today!”

‘Yeah’ Sunset thought as she took another bite, ‘Me too.’

The next day Sunset was with Bonnie on the range, running reloading drills. Pinkie had the day off, so it was just the two of them. The senior hunter was standing behind her dressed notably more casually than the day before, if still rather crisply and well ironed. She stood with hands clasped behind her back as she patiently watched the girl repeat the motions for the hundredth time, only speaking when she felt it warranted.

Sunset had the weapon raised as if firing before pulling back and hitting the magazine release, making sure not to just let the empty drop. It may have looked cool in the movies, but Pinkie had stressed that movies were almost always a terrible guide to go by, no matter how fun they were. That included that if you don’t have to let the mag drop, then you shouldn’t let the mag drop. She stuffed the empty into her belt and grabbed the next in the same motion, bringing it up...

And having it slip out of her grip, practically throwing it out onto range with a clatter.

The redhead slumped forward with a groan, falling onto the shelf as she ran her fingers through her hair.

“I’m getting Worse!” her muffled cry came from behind the red and gold curtain.

“You’re not” Bonnie returned patiently. “You’ve gotten a little faster, in fact.”

“Faster at dropping it maybe…” Sunset sighed, straightening as she looked down to her hands. She flexed them before giving a huff “I’m just not getting it.”

“That’s because you’ve already gotten it” the instructor countered, prompting Sunset to turn back confused “There’s a reason these are called reloading drills and not reloading lessons. You’ve already learned what to do, now we’re just training your body to do it reliably and, eventually, without even thinking about it.”

“So it’s just muscle memory?”

“Essentially, yes.”

“So I just have to do this a million more times until my hands are about to fall off.”

“Yes. It’s a massive pain in the ass.” Bonnie smirked as her blunt assertion landed, earning a snort from the novice “Come on, we can take a break. If I’m getting hungry then I’m sure as an NMH, you definitely are.”

Sunset nodded and holstered the pistol. She lamented the fact she was going to have to do this who knew how many more times and then again for everything that followed after the sidearm. All she could hope for was that at least some of the skill would transfer between.

‘Hopefully...’ She collected the errant magazine and rejoined the senior hunter outside the range. “So what’re we having?”

“I don’t know, we’ll check the menus in the break room.” she answered simply and the pair retired to the little retreat. No one was there, though that wasn’t terribly surprising as the only other ones in today were Twilight and Lyra. Bonnie pulled a small stack of take out menus from a drawer and started flipping through them as she took a seat. Sunset waited patiently when a thought occurred to her.

“Can I ask why everyone calls you and Lyra ‘The OC’” A small smile graced the hunter’s lips before answering.

“It stands for Odd Couple.” she said with a touch of affection “You may have noticed Lyra and I have fairly different personalities. Yet even before we confessed to each other, we were still best friends despite some of our notably different interests. We somehow stay together though.”

“Oh, so you’re partner partners” Sunset gave.

“Yes. I know people say you shouldn’t work with someone if you’re in a relationship, but Lyra and I work well off each other, so Rupert keeps us together.” she offered, still flipping through their options. She did pause briefly to glance up to her current charge. “I hope that won’t be an issue.”

“Hey, you love who you love. Why should I have a problem with it?” an appreciative chuckle escaped the instructor.

“Why indeed?” she muttered before the next menu caught her eye “Oh, a gyro sounds pretty good right now. You in the mood for greek?”

“Sure.” She didn’t know what it was, but the pictures looked good enough to Sunset. “Then we can get back to throwing magazines… Better than throwing the gun, I guess.”

“Only if you don’t have to” Bonnie quipped as she pulled out her phone, though Sunset didn’t miss the hint of genuineness the statement held. Bonnie was about to hit the call button when she saw Sunset’s confusion out of the corner of her eye. She set the phone down and rested her elbows on the table as she regarded the teen “Alright, so my old instructors would probably kick my ass for what I’m about to say- well, try to kick my ass- but there are rare times when it’sappropriate to throw the gun.”

“Yes, in Nine Hundred and Ninety Nine times out of a Thousand, it will be an infinitely better idea to hold onto it. BUT… but if you end up in that one in a thousand situation, where the only choice is between losing your life, or someone else’s, and potentially losing the gun; if it results in a life saved, then you throw that fucking gun” the overly professional woman delivered with complete seriousness, even cursing for emphasis. “Your gun’s just a hunk of metal and plastic. Equipment can be replaced. People can’t be. You can’t be. You got that?”

“Y-yeah” Sunset stuttered. Satisfied, Bonnie leaned back and picked her phone back up, as casual as if the whole thing never happened.

“You know what you want?”

“Huh? Oh, uh no, whatever you think is good” Bonnie just nodded and brought the phone to her ear.

Sunset had never particularly thought of herself as replaceable but… no one had ever actually said anything like that to her either.

She knew she wasn’t Celestia’s first student, not by a long shot. She also knew she’d be far from the last but the thought of her being replaced hadn’t really occurred to her until now. And now that it had, she didn’t like it. It bothered her that someday Celestia would just move on to another student, just forgetting about her in the process.

‘Heck, for all I know she already has’ she thought, disquieted despite trying her best no to show it.

However... The disquiet was also mixed with another feeling, one she didn’t recognize. Bonnie just told her, without a hint of doubt, that she was irreplaceable. Not because she was brilliant, or well connected or... Heck, with her amnesia act, she was just about as close as she could get to being literally nobody in this world. She was irreplaceable just by being… her.

She didn’t recognize the feeling, in fact for some reason it seemed to be making her distinctly uncomfortable. Yet it helped make the first feeling… Not as bad…

She subtly shook her head and began running the reloading drills through her mind as she waited for their food to arrive.