Chapters Berry Punch knocked back the whiskey bottle, feeling the pleasant burning sensation in her throat. These days, alcohol was her only friend. So what if she was just a freshman? Drinking got rid of the lonely feelings, the self hatred she held within herself. She shook the thoughts off as she took another pull of the bottle. The sun was setting behind the school she went to. In front of her sat the Wondercolt statue.
"I wander of therss a reallll hurse in dat der stat-hic-statue." She drunkenly said, giggling to herself as she pictured a horse posing there for eternity. The statue started to glow and a swirl of purple and pink was in the center.
She squinted at it, her eyes bloodshot. "Wut da hell? The aliens arrrre coming!" She screamed, then giggled. "Hehe, I saids cumming." A girl shot out of the statue.
"What in Equestria, where the buck am I?" The girl on the ground demanded. She saw grass and her eyes widened. "Huh. Grass. I am kinda hungry." She leaned forward and started chewing the grass before spitting it out. "What the hay!?"
"Dats not hay silly, dats grass." Berry announced as she rubbed her eyes. "I musta drank more than I thought, I swear i just watched a girl get ejected outta a fuckin statue."
The girl on the ground looked up at Berry swaying drunkenly on the bench and screamed, scrambling backwards.
Berry covered her ears. "Oi, matey. I'm drank ova here, don't be screamin." The girl breathed in and out for a few moments.
"W-what are you? Where am I? Princess Celestia? Somepony help me." The girl curled up.
"I'ma Berry. But between ya and meee, I wanna be a bird. Flyin high and free. Ya on Earth, mystical alien thingy." Berry announced, taking another sip of her alcohol.
"Earth. Huh." The girl looked down at her hands. "Where are my hooves?"
"Yur what now?" Berry asked, swaying.
"My hooves." She repeated.
Berry drunkenly giggled. "Ya must mean hands and feet. Yur probably drunk too." She pointed at the girls hands. "Yhose are ya feet. And those", she pointed at the feet. "Are ya hands." She smiled triumphantly, then dropped her smile. "Or maybeee it's versa vice. Vice versa? I dunno the sayin."
"Vice Versa." The girl automatically corrected before looking down at herself. The fear was slowly starting to leave her system.
"Whats your name?" The girl asked suddenly.
Berry was mid drink before stopping and thinking. "Berry Punch. Whatta bout you?" She asked, angling a bottle her way.
"Uh, I'm Sunset Shimmer." Sunset answered.
"Nice to meet you, Sunshim."
"Sunset." She corrected.
Berry waved a hand. "Sunshim, Sunset. Same thang. You want a drank?" She offered a beer.
"I am thirsty, water sounds nice." Sunset admitted. This girls voice sounds like she's drunk off her plot, but she's like twelve looking, Sunset thought to herself as she reached for the beer.
She took a sip and immediately spit it out.
"What is this?" She demanded.
"Beer." Berry replied as she sipped again.
"And why exactly are you sitting here drinking alone?" Sunset asked as she tried the beer again and grimaced.
Berry shrugged. "I only drink when I'm lonely." From the look on Sunset's face, it was evident she could relate. "Sunshim?" Berry drunkenly said.
"Yeah?" Sunset asked as she took another sip.
"I'm glad ya came from, well wherever ya came from." Berry announced.
Sunset tensed and got ready to either fight or run away based on her concern about why this strange creature was interested in her appearance.
"What, why?" Sunset asked, her eyes darting back and forth around them.
Berry took a long sip before answering her. "Like I said, I only drink when I'm lonely. Now that yur here, I don't gotta anymore." She tipped the bottle Sunsets direction a tired smile and looked like she was gonna cry. "I really need to use the bathroom." Berey stumbled to her feet and started putting all the bottles in her backpack.
"Berry Punch, why are you still on school property?" A familiar voice called out and Sunset froze in fear.
"Come on!" Berry yelled to Sunset before drunkenly stumbling in the direction of her apartment.
Sunset decided to trust this strange creature. Besides, she could always manipulate her into giving her more information about this place and shelter, plus food. She started running after her on her hands and knees and soon passed the drunk girl.
"Uh Sunshim?" Berry asked.
Sunset stopped and looked behind her. "Aren't we supposed to be running, not talking?"
"Yur walking kindaa weird. But it looks funn." Berry dropped to her hands and knees and ran the same way Sunset was home, with the new arrival a few seconds behind her after a moments hesitation.
"Where on earth is that girl?" A pink girl with yellow hair muttered angrily as she paced back and forth in the small apartment holding a crying child.
"This is the fourth time Berry hasn't came home on time, frustrating." She glanced down at the baby. "Pretty annoying, isn't it Ruby?" A crashing sound alerted her to the door. She gave a sigh of relief. No matter how annoyed she was at Berry, she was relieved she got home safely.
She walked to the door and pulled it open.
"Berry, it's almost ten pm. Where have you-?" She stopped midsentence at the sight in front of her. Berry was on her hands and knees and reaching for the door handle with her mouth before her sister opened it. Her sisters eyes flicked behind Berry and saw a similar Sunset, struggling to hold her laughter in.
"I know I shouldn't ask this, but what on earth are you two doing? The other girl demanded rolling her eyes.
"Aye Cherry Berry." Berry Punch grinned. "When did you get so tall?"
"You're on your hands and knees. And drunk. Again." She sighed. "Get up and get inside." She glanced back at Sunset and sighed again."Both of you."
"Cherry, you won't believe what happened." Berry gushed. "She launched out a concrete statue." Berry giggled while Cherry rolled her eyes.
"Sure she did, because that's totally possible." Cherry said sarcastically. "Berry, you can't keep coming home drunk like this. You're setting a bad image for your daughter." She gestured down at the sleeping baby she was holding.
Berry slumped against the wall while Sunset awkwardly stood there watching.
"I know. I can't help it, yanno." Berry muttered. "Hold that thought." She stumbled to the bathroom and both girls winced at the sound of vomiting.
"So," Cherry turned her focus to Sunset and her eyes narrowed. "Are you the one supplying her with alcohol?"
"No, nothing like that. I just got here, I don't even know where here is." Sunset admitted.
"Well, you're currently in our apartment. I'm honestly not sure I trust you about not supplying her with alcohol. But if Berry brought you here, she must trust you enough." Cherry sighed, then narrowed her eyes again. "But if I do catch you giving her alcohol or any pills, you will be out. Am I clear?"
Sunset nodded. Nice, I just wound up in this weird bucking world and I already get a place to stay? Epic, she thought to herself.
"How long can I stay here?" Sunset asked carefully.
"Well, do you have anywhere else to go?" Cherry pointed out.
Sunset shook her head. "Uhmm, no?"
Cherry sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose as best she could while holding a baby. "We only got two rooms, you can bunk with either me or Berry. But I presume you will choose Berry because you know her more than me."
Sunset nodded and Berry rejoined them, wiping the side of her mouth.
"Remind me to never drink again." Berry groaned and Cherry sighed.
"I set water aside in your room along with some Ibuprofen. Take them." Cherry ordered her younger sister.
"Yesh mom." Berry muttered before stumbling along. She stopped and grabbed Sunset's hand.
Sunset flinched before being dragged away by Berry.
"Where are you taking me?" Sunset nervously asked.
"To the bedroom duh. But not like that." Berry laughed. "Just to-hic-sleep."
She rammed into her door and groaned rubbing her head.
"Stupid damn door." She muttered. Her eyes lit up. "I forgot Ruby. Wait here." She speed off to the living room. A few short moments later and after some raised voices, she came back into the room head drooped.
"Cherry won't let me sleep with Ruby tonight. Says the smell of alcohol isn't good for a baby." She smacked herself in the head, repeatedly. "I'm an awful mother." She flung herself onto her bed. Sunset sat on the floor, observing her fingers. Berry lifted her head and stared at her guest.
"You okay?" She slurred out.
"Yeah. Just don't know why I have these."
Berry giggled. "You're a human, all humans have em silly." She appeared to be thinking and then corrected herself. "Well, unless you're born without one or got one chopped off."
Sunset shivered. "Morbid, but okay."
Berry slid under the blankets and sighed. She lifted one side and stared at her guest again. "Can you sleep with me tonight? Up here? I don't wanna be alone. Not again." She whimpered softly.
"I don't even know how to get up there." Sunset exclaimed.
Berry tossed the blanket over to one side before shuffling out of bed and falling over.
"Are you okay?" Sunset asked. Berry nodded yes.
Berry grabbed Sunset's hands and pulled her. "Alright. Now walk this way toward the bed." Berry instructed. Sunset complied and fell forward onto the bed.
Berry clapped her hands together. "Great job, Sunshim." She sat down next to her on the bed and pulled Sunset's legs onto the bed. "Now just lay on ya side." Berry instructed and Sunset complied again. Berry slid in next to her and pulled the covers over them both.
"Berry?" Sunset suddenly said.
"Mhmmm?" Berry mumbled, face in the pillow.
"You forgot your water and your pills." Sunset reminded her. Berry sat up and groped around her night stand for the water and pills.
She pulled them to her and tossed the pills in her mouth and drank half the glass of water before collapsing back on the bed.
"Nighty night, Sunshim." She muttered.
"Uhm, goodnight?" Sunset replied. A few moments later, she heard snoring coming from next to her. She lay there thinking for a few moments before gasping. Berry wrapped an arm around her and snuggled up next to her snoring still. Sunset soon fell asleep.
"Oh my head." Berry groaned as she laid in bed, her eyes still closed. "I had the wildest dream last that night that a girl came out of a statue too. What the hell was that about?"
She felt something next to her and cracked open an eye. Sunset was passed out next to her, one arm hanging off the bed. "Ahh!" Berry yelped and slid off the bed. "Hmm?" Sunset muttered before opening her eyes and taking in the sight of Berry on the floor staring at her.
"Yo-you're real!" Berry exclaimed, pointing a shaking finger.
Sunset yawned. "Yes, I am very much real."
"But how? You came from a statue. Or am I still asleep? Oh god, what if I died from alcohol poisoning and you're the devil sent to punish me? You do have fiery hair." Berry said.
Sunset held a hand up. "Please. Too many questions and it's too early in the morning."
"Sorry." Berry whimpered, rubbing the back of her head.
"But I will answer the how. I came from Equestria." Sunset replied.
Berry looked up. "Equestria? Why come here?"
Sunset got nervous. "I did some bad things. I came to escape my past. And to be fair, I didn't even know what was on the other side. I just leapt through the mirror and here I am."
"What type of bad things? Did you kill someone? I can't have a murderer around my daughter." Berry stated indignantly.
"No! I didn't murder anypony, I'm not a killer." Sunset exclaimed.
"Anypony? Don't you mean anybody?" Berry pointed out.
"Uh, yeah." Sunset nodded.
Berry folded her arms and fixed a crease in her skirt. "Now what bad things did you do?"
Sunset sighed. "Fine. I tried to force the ruler of my land into making me a princess, when she refused, I screamed at her and said I hated her. After she went to asleep, I decided to run off. She didn't even say I never would be one, just that I needed to work harder. I worked my flank off to get where I am, from that tiny village in Equestria to the princess' student."
Berry nodded, listening. "That's a lot to take in and deal with in one night. I've seen and done worse drunk."
Sunset looked at her. "You're taking this very well. Kinda concerning."
Berry waved a hand. "I've seen some crazy shit before. This is pretty crazy too, don't get me wrong but like it's not high up on the list. I once stood on the beach in Mareorida and thought I saw planes and boats disappear before my eyes."
"What's a plane?" Sunset asked.
"Don't let Cherry hear you say that." Berry warned. "She's obsessed with aircraft. Wants to be a pilot or a stewardess. Anyway, picture a bus. But instead of being stuck on the ground, it can fly and has wings."
Sunset nodded. "Like a pegasus."
"Uh, sure. Yeah, like a pegasus." Berry smiled.
"How old are you anyway?" Sunset suddenly asked.
Berry chuckled. "I'm sixteen. How about you?"
Sunset put a finger on her chin. "Sixteen. I'm pretty sure at least."
The two sat in silence for a bit before Berry broke it. "How long are you gonna
Sunset shrugged. "I'm not sure. The portal is closed so I can't return home for a long time."
Berry nodded and grinned. "This can be your home!" She exclaimed.
Sunset looked around. "I don't have anywhere else to go. But your sister doesn't seem to like me much."
"Pfft, Cherry has always been uptight. She's like that with everyone." Berry snorted.
Sunset gave a slight nod. "If you're sure."
"I am certain." Berry announced. "I gotta go check on Ruby. Be back shortly. And I'll bring food."
Sunset smiled at the prospect of food. She looked around the room after Berry left. She took in the dark pink walls and the red dresser. There was a few paintings on the walls, mainly of different bottles and a few grapes. On the nightstand sat a white clock. She looked down and admired the hardwood flooring. The door opened and she glanced up. Berry stood in the doorway, holding a baby. She shut the door and strode to the bed. She sat down gently.
"Meet Ruby." Berry smiled as she gazed down at the baby who pulled on her pinkie finger.
"Awwww." Sunset gazed down into the baby's green eyes. "She's adorable. How old is she?"
"Eight months." Berry smiled sadly. "One of the best things to happen to me."
The pair sat admiring the baby before Berry broke the silence.
"Do you wanna hold her?" She asked smiling over at Sunset.
"I don't know, I'm just getting used to hands." Sunset stammered out.
"Don't worry, I'll help you." Berry assured her. She scooted closer to Sunset.
She laid Ruby next to her on the bed safely away from the edge. She put Sunset's hands in the correct position.
"Alright I'm gonna hand her to you now, when I do, put your hand under her neck to keep it stable." Berry instructed.
Sunset nervously nodded as Berry gave a satisfied smile and slowly put Ruby in Sunset's hands.
Sunset instinctively moved her hand under her neck while Berry observed.
Ruby gazed up at Sunset and smiled at her. She waved with her fist and Berry giggled.
"I think she likes you." Berry teased.
"I think so." Sunset agreed softly. A few moments later, Ruby started to cry and Sunset started to panic.
"What did I do?" She asked Berry in a panic.
Berry chuckled. "She's hungry. I brought a bottle just in case. Speaking of food, I also brought some breakfast." She gestured behind her before reclaiming Ruby and sticking a bottle in her mouth.
Sunset cautiously picked up a strange round black item off the plate.
"What in Equestria is this?" She asked Berry, holding it up.
Berry glanced over and her eyes lit up. "Oh! Those are olives. They're my favorite vegetable. I didn't know what foods you liked so I put cheese, olives, crackers and an egg sandwich from the other night."
Sunset cautiously tossed it in her mouth and chewed before her eyes lit up. "These are amazing." She said grinning as she popped another in her mouth.
Berry matched her grin before returning her focus to her daughter. She quickly brought her up to her shoulder and started patting her back gently. Sunset watched, fascinated.
"What are you doing?" Sunset asked.
"Burping her. After feeding, you're supposed to gently pat or rub them on the back. It helps get rid of air babies tend to swallow during feeding. Or at least that's what the nurse said I should do at the hospital after giving birth. The pamphlet says that too." She nodded towards a pamphlet on her desk that said Guide To Motherhood.
Sunset nodded and kept watching. Until Ruby spit on the towel over Berry's shoulder. Sunset wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"Ew. She just vomited on you." Sunset pointed out.
Berry nodded. "That's pretty common after burping a baby." She wiped Ruby's mouth off and gently laid her down. She tossed the towel into a laundry hamper.
The two sat in comfortable silence while Ruby explored the bed under Berry's watchful gaze.
"You know, last night you said you were an awful mother." Sunset spoke up and Berry tensed. "I don't think you are. I think you just make mistakes, like everypony. Watching you this morning, proves you're a good mom to me." She smiled at Berry, her first true smile in a long time.
Berry let the tension out and smiled back. "Thanks, Sunset."
"I know what I saw!" Berry slammed her hand down on the table in frustration.
"You were drunk!" Cherry snapped back.
"And? What does that have to do with anything!?" Berry shouted.
"It has everything to do with it!" Cherry shouted back. "Look, Berry. People don't just fly out of statues. In all likelihood, she probably walked past it, tripped on her shoelaces or a stick and fell in front of it and your drunken mind assumed she came out of it!"
"And what about the pink swirling light, huh?" Berry yelled.
"Probably the alcohol too!" Cherry narrowed her eyes. "Unless, you were on drugs too. Are you on drugs now, Berry?"
"No!" Berry snapped. "You saw what drugs did to Dad, how could you assume I'd use?"
"I never thought Dad would use either but he did." Cherry shot back.
"Sunset, please back me up!" Berry turned and pleaded to the other girl in the room. She had been standing off the the side quietly watching the fight happen. It was very awkward and uncomfortable for her.
She stepped forward and cleared throat. "She's telling the truth. I am from a different world."
Cherry rolled her eyes. "You have zero proof of this. I need some sort of evidence."
"Is she not evidence enough?" Berry demanded.
Cherry pinched the bridge of her nose and gave an exasperated sigh. "Berry, having a human girl standing in front of me isn't proof of anything. If anything, it just proves you have friends."
Berry looked down at the table and lowered her voice. "I thought you trusted me."
Cherry sighed and tried to put a hand on her sisters shoulder. Berry flinched away and shot her a look. "Do not touch me!"
"Berry, I trust you with all my heart. It's just you have to see how crazy this is." Cherry said.
Berry stood up and slammed her hands down, making Cherry and Sunset flinch.
"I'll be in my room, with my daughter. Don't talk to me until you decide I'm trustworthy." She stormed over to where Ruby was playing with building blocks, gently scooped her up and carried her to her room, shooting a look at her sister and shutting her door.
Cherry sighed and stood up. "Teenagers have such attitude. I forgot what it was like to be her age. I wonder if this is how my mom felt dealing with me when I had yelling matches with her."
"I don't know what to say, honestly." Sunset admitted.
Cherry waved a hand as she walked to the kitchen. "It's fine. Honestly." She leaned against the sink as she sipped a glass of water she got earlier. "Can you go talk to her? She seems to get calmer after you talk to her. Maybe bring Ruby her blocks?" Cherry suggested.
Sunset nodded and gathered up the blocks and pushed them into a bucket. She walked up the stairs and knocked softly on the door.
"Go away!" a yell came from the other side.
"It's me." Sunset replied softly. She gave a rattle of the bucket. "I brought Ruby some toys, too."
"Oh. Come in Sunset, you don't gotta knock." Berry's voice said, sounding warm and slightly sheepish. Sunset opened the door. She smiled faintly at the sign of Berry laying on the floor on her stomach while Ruby played with her hair.
Sunset walked in and shut the door. "You're getting better at walking." Berry idly pointed out.
Sunset chuckled. "Yeah, I've had a few days to get the hang of it."
Berry nodded. "It's crazy how quick you got the hang of it but Ruby won't walk till ten to eighteen months." Berry smiled at her daughter reaching for the blocks Sunset was carrying. Sunset knelt down and dumped them out. Ruby clapped her hands and made a laughing sound.
The two watched Ruby play and Sunset idly built a tower only for Ruby to knock it over.
"Hey Berry, can I ask you a personal question?" Sunset suddenly asked.
Berry nodded and waved her hand in a go on gesture.
"I haven't seen Ruby's dad anywhere. I'm not too familiar with human anatomy, but I'm pretty sure it takes two here to create a kid like in Equestria." Sunset glanced at Berry.
Berry got tense and sighed. "It was at some party. Some people offered me shots, I kept taking them. Next thing I know, it's morning and I'm waking up in a unfamiliar bed with a random person. We started talking more and were dating. Then we found out I was pregnant and he decided now was a good to hit the road and left." Berry shivered as she stared at Ruby. "At least I got her out of it."
Sunset rubbed Berry's back comfortingly and Berry sighed contently. "I'm sorry for bringing up a sensitive topic."
Berry shook her head. "It's fine. You didn't know. Cherry really hated him before he left. We got into a few fights because she kept telling me that he wasn't good for me and was gonna leave but I foolishly didn't believe her." Berry gave a bitter laugh. "Guess she got the smarter sister genetics."
"No." Sunset shook her head adamantly. "You both are smart in your own way. Ponies are tricky to read and understand at times. Don't blame yourself. Some are good at hiding their intentions, others are bad at it."
Ruby smiled up at Sunset and dropped a block on her lap and Berry smiled at the two.
"Uhm, where are you taking me?" Sunset nervously asked Cherry, as she looked out the car windows. Cherry sighed and turned down the radio a bit.
"You need more clothes. So we're going to the store. Berry is taking Ruby to the park to go have a playdate with Dinky. And we get some time to talk and bond." Cherry smiled at Sunset.
Sunset nodded. "I'm not used to carriages going this fast."
"You mean car?" Cherry asked.
Sunset nodded and discreetly rolled her eyes. "Yeah, car. Wait, I have clothes." She stared at Cherry.
"All the clothes you have is what you're wearing. You can't keep washing them every night and wearing them." Cherry remarked. She stopped at a red light and took a sip from her water.
"Why are we stopped?" Sunset inquired. "I thought you wanted to get this over with."
Cherry smirked. "Red light means stop, yellow means slow down and green means go." She chuckled to herself. "If you ask Berry, she'll tell you that yellow means speed up."
"Fascinating." Sunset muttered. The two sat in silence as Cherry navigated the streets.
"So, Berry is sixteen. How old are you then?" Sunset asked.
"I'm twenty two." Cherry answered as she flicked her turn signal on and turned into a stores parking lot. "I'm in the process of attending Canterlot Community College right now. For aviation and aerospace engineering."
"What's it like?" Sunset asked.
"What's what like?" Cherry gave her a confused look.
Sunset gestured up at the sky. "Being up there. Flying."
Cherry's eyes lit up. "It's amazing. The view is spectacular. Everything looks so small. The houses look like Legos, the cars look like toys. And the clouds are beautiful. It's a peaceful feeling, really." Cherry gushed in excitement.
Sunset smiled at the older girls excitement. "I've never flown before."
Cherry stared at her as she put the car in park in a parking spot. "We have to change that one day."
Sunset shrugged and gazed out the window.
"We're here by the way." Cherry announced.
Sunset stared at the door before working out the unlocking mechanism and opened the door. Cherry snickered at her.
"Having trouble?" She asked.
Sunset rolled her eyes in frustration. I hate getting laughed at, she thought to herself. She breathed in and unballed her fist.
"Yeah, but it's good now." Sunset replied forcing a smile.
Cherry nodded and smiled. "Since we're here, we can get groceries too. Berry asked me to get more formula for Ruby. Crazy how fast that baby has grown. Both of them." She laughed quietly as she led Sunset into the store.
Sunset and Cherry wandered around the store as Cherry tossed random groceries items into the cart. She seemed to focus most on what formula to get for Ruby.
Sunset wandered until she came up to some stand.
"Howdy there, what can ah get ya?" A girl in jeans with a black shirt asked smiling.
"Uh, what is this?" Sunset asked. She glanced at the nametag. "Applejack. Isn't that a cereal a few aisles down?"
Applejack chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, most people connect me to that cereal for some reason. Anyways this here is a taste station. You get to try out new products the store will be selling. We got applesauce, apple pie, apple juice and apple turnovers." She waved a hand over the stand and leaned on it grinning.
"Spot anythang you fancy tryin?" She eagerly asked. Sunset looked over the stand nervously and back up at Applejacks eager green eyes.
"You're the expert, you pick something." Sunset decided.
Applejack nodded and stuck a fork in a cup with a tiny piece of pie and slid it forward. Sunset stared at it and Applejack gave her an encouraging nod. Sunset picked it up and cautiously bit into it before smiling.
"That's good." Sunset announced smiling.
"Thank ya." Applejack said smugly. "Mah family makes all the apple related products in this here store."
"Sunset! There you are." Cherry walked up with her cart. "I lost ya for a moment there. Hey Applejack." She smiled at the employee.
Applejack tipped her hat. "Howdy, Miss Berry. How's your afternoon goin?"
Cherry smiled and rolled her eyes. "Please, I've told you to just call me Cherry. My afternoon is going fine thanks. How about yourself?"
Applejack leaned back on the stand and smiled. "Ah can't complain. Work is going pretty darn decent today."
"That's good to hear. This is Sunset." Cherry gestured in Sunset's direction.
Applejack came around the stand and started shaking her hand aggressively.
"Well, howdy Sunset." Applejack exclaimed grinning.
"Hi." She said nervously as Applejack let go of her hand and she stumbled back, dizzy.
An awkward silence came over the three.
"Well, me and Sunset have to go get some clothes." Cherry said cheerfully as she dragged Sunset.
"See yall around. Nice to make your acquaintance, Sunset." Applejack waved.
"Thank Celestia that's over." Sunset muttered.
"It wasn't that bad, was it?" Cherry pressed.
"I don't need friends. I have Berry, Ruby and you. That's all I need." Sunset announced.
Cherry rolled her eyes and approached the women's clothing section. "You and Berry are so similar, all she thinks she needs is me and Ruby. And you." She hastily added.
She picked up a blue dress and helped it up.
"What do you think about this?"
Sunset shook her head. "Seems too girly." She stated.
Cherry rolled her eyes again and headed to the skirts section. She held up and orange skirt.
"What about this?" She asked.
Sunset's eyes lit up and smiled. "I like it."
Cherry smiled back. She tossed the skirt and a few others that were like it into the cart.
"Why are you doing this?" Sunset asked as she followed Cherry. "You just meet me a few weeks ago."
Cherry shrugged. "Berry likes you. Plus, you've been helping around the house and with Ruby." She picked up some running shoes and Sunset shook her head. Sighing, Cherry put them down.
Sunset glanced at some boots and strode over to them. Cherry joined her.
"You like those?" She asked.
Sunset rubbed the back off her head. "If it's not a big problem."
Cherry smiled. "It's scary how alike you and Berry are. She hates feeling like being a burden. The boots are on sale, grab em and toss them in the cart. Gently." She added. "There's eggs in the cart."
Sunset shyly complied and followed Cherry to the shirts section.
Sunset picked up magenta shirt and held it up for Cherry to see who nodded. Cherry took it and a few others and added it to the pile.
"Anything else?" Cherry asked.
Sunset rubbed her head. "Can I uh, get a book?"
Cherry's eyes lit up. "I didn't think you liked reading. I assumed it was just me in the house. Of course you can. This way." She pushed the cart towards the book section and Sunset followed.
"I personally like romance." Cherry admitted to her partner. "What's your poison?"
"Uh, mystery. Crime, fiction. Stuff like that." Sunset replied.
Cherry nodded. "Those are always good choices. I do like a good mystery novel every now and then." She plucked a romance book with a vampire on the front and flipped it over, reading the back before adding it to the cart.
Sunset looked over the options of books.
A book caught her eye and she turned around and picked it up. "Huh, Daring Doo and The Forbidden City Of Clouds."
"That's a good one." Sunset jumped and spun around to Cherry standing over her should reading the title.
She held her hands up. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." She rubbed the back of her head and smiled softly.
"It's fine." Sunset said and looked back at the book.
"You can add that to the cart if you want." Cherry said softly and Sunset nodded. She tossed it into the cart and Cherry nodded in satisfaction. She pushed the cart up to the front of the store.
"Eggs go last so we can put them on top in the trunk so they don't get crushed. Same with the bread." Cherry instructed Sunset as she put some frozen pizzas and other grocery items on the belt.
Cherry worked her way to the register where a cream girl with pink and blue hair was waiting.
"Hey Cherry." She said with a warm smile.
"Hey Bon Bon. How's it going?" Cherry said with a tired smile.
"Pretty good, how about you?" Bon Bon replied as she started scanning the items and handing them to a mint green girl who appeared to help bag the items. The green girl waved eagerly.
"Heya, Miss. Berry."
"Hey Lyra." Cherry smiled. "Just call me Cherry, please. You're worse than Applejack." She turned to Bon Bon. "I'm pretty good."
"That's good." Bon Bon states and nodded to Sunset who seemed fascinated by the belt. "Who's the girl?"
Cherry waved her hand. "Berry brought her home after being out drinking. She's pretty nice." She leaned in close and gestured for the two workers to get in close. They leaned in conspiratorially.
"Between the three of us, I ship her and Berry. She's really good with Ruby too." Cherry whispered, grinning.
Lyra smirked. "Did they do more than sleep?"
Bon Bon smacked the back of Lyra's head.
"Ow!" Lyra yelped.
"Be respectful, Lyra. That's not our business." Bon Bon scolded.
Lyra scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"No. I would have heard something if they did. Sunset does sleep in her room, though." Cherry smiled.
"Uhm, Cherry?" Sunset cut in softly.
Cherry turned around and the two employees shot back to their usual work positions.
"Yeah, Sunset?" Cherry asked.
Sunset pointed to the belt. "I think I broke it. It's not moving."
Bon Bon chuckled and pointed to a switch. "That right there controls whether the belt moves. Since the belt is empty and all the items are bagged, it doesn't need to be on." She explained.
"Fascinating." Sunset mumbled. "Maybe this world does have magic, after all."
Bon Bon rolled her eyes good naturedly.
"Alright, Cherry. Have a good one." Bon Bon waved after Cherry paid for the items. "Do you want Lyra to help you put the items in your car?"
Cherry shook her head. "Nah, I think me and Sunset will manage. Thanks for the offer though. When do you two go back to school?"
Bon Bon propped a finger on her chin.
"Summers almost over, so two months from now. Me and Lyra got a summer time job here to get some extra money. If we can, we might be able to stay here part time and work after school for a few hours." The cashier said.
Cherry nodded. "Well, we're outta here now. Have a good one." She waved at the two and pushed the cart outside to her car while Sunset followed close behind, eyes flicking nervously around them.
"Thanks for doing this, Derpy." Berry said as she sat on the bench watching her daughter play with Derpy's.
Derpy sipped her coffee. "Not a problem. I know Dinky looks forward to these play dates just as much as I imagine Ruby does."
Berry chuckled. "I do enjoy getting out too. It's always nice to see you, given us both being single mothers. You know more than anyone else what I'm going through."
Derpy nodded and gestured to a coffee. "I brought you a coffee, if you want it. It's how I remember you saying you liked it."
Berry nodded her thanks and picked up the coffee. She took a sip and gave a contented sigh as the hazelnut and caramel flavors attacked her taste buds.
"So, are you looking forward to going back to school?" Berry asked as she took another sip.
Derpy shook her head. "Hell no. I've been appreciating the time with Dinky. That and working a few odd hours getting some money together." She fixed a stare at Berry. "What about you?"
Berry thought for a moment and shook her head. "I'm in the same boat. I'm still on medical leave from work for the entire year so I've been playing with Ruby. At least it's paid medical leave, surprisingly."
Derpy nodded. "That's always good. Wish my job was like that, but I can't complain."
Berry continued watching her daughter play in the sand pit and smiled.
"I meet this girl a few weeks ago. She's been staying with us. She's really good with Ruby. Hell, even Cherry likes her." Berry said after a moment.
Derpy raised an eyebrow as she sipped.
"How did that come about?" She pressed.
Berry sighed. "You're gonna think I'm crazy, but..."
"But what?" Derpy asked.
"She came from the Wondercolt statue. It sounds crazy, I know. Cherry and I fought about it earlier this morning."
Derpy shrugged. "Okay."
Berry fixed an incredulous look at the grey girl. "You believe me? Seriously?"
Derpy shrugged. "Why wouldn't I? You seem fairly serious about it, so I trust you."
Berry gave a sigh. "If only Cherry would believe me."
"Well, you did tell her she launched out of a statue." Derpy admitted. "That would be hard to take in I bet." She looked up at Sunset in confusion. "Wait, you said Principal Celestia was there. Why would she be there?"
Berry shrugged. "I guess getting the school ready for this upcoming school year. The school was kinda torn up after last years Senior Prank." Both girls shuddered at the memory of the seniors from last year releasing herds of hungry bunnies who tore up the floor, mainly Harshwhinnies classroom.
"Makes sense. Why were you there though?" Derpy continued prying.
"I don't know." Berry admitted. "I like the view of the sunset falling over the town. Good place for me to sit and admire and think."
"And get drunk." Derpy pointed out.
"Yeah, that too." Berry sighed.
"So." Derpy grinned and winked at Berry. "You and this girl, anything gonna outta that?"
Berry rolled her eyes and sighed. "She's pretty and all, but I highly doubt she swings that way."
Derpy shrugged and finished her coffee and sent it flying into the nearby garbage can.
"You never know till you try it." She smirked.
A loud crying sound caught the twos attention and both stood up simultaneously and strode to the daughters.
"Well, seems like Dinky wants to head home now." Derpy chuckled as she picked up the crying baby.
Berry knelt down and lifted Ruby. "Yeah, seems Ruby agrees."
Derpy waved. "I'll see ya next week, Berry. Same spot?"
Berry nodded. "Works for me."
Sunset gazed out the window as the buildings went past. She let out a sigh.
"You okay?" Cherry asked.
Sunset gave a brief nod. "It's just, you're Berry's sister. But what about your parents, why isn't she with them?"
Cherry gave a loud sigh. "That's a lot of complicated history."
Sunset shrugged. "I got time."
Cherry nodded and conceded. "Alright. But don't tell her we spoke about this. It's a rough subject for her. Our father was really abusive growing up. It used to just be me and mom he hit, but after Berry got into middle school and brought home some bad grades, he went nuts and started hitting her too. After years of it, I began to recognize the signs when he was feeling violent and able to get Berry safely to her room, but sometimes I was too slow." She sighed again. "Mom kept telling us it would be getting better. She lived in this fairy tale that things would magically get better. When I turned eighteen, I had enough funds set aside from some shady jobs I had to do to earn some money and bought this apartment. As soon as possible, I got Berry in my custody and moved her here. After it came out she was pregnant, Dad was furious and threatened to throw her out. After that, mom agreed to give me custody of Berry and signed her over to me. Berry already had a part time job when she got pregnant working at the store we just left. She's just on medical leave for a year right now."
Sunset sat in silence the entire story. "So that's why she doesn't like being touched often."
Cherry nodded as she flicked her turn signal on and pulled into the apartments parking lot.
"Pretty much. She doesn't trust people much. Only person she trust is Derpy and me. And you, of course."
Sunset nodded. "She is very cuddly at night, especially when she's drunk. I haven't seen her drunk since the night I met her."
Cherry nodded smiling. "I remember when she first moved here with me, she slept with me every night because she was scared to be alone."
"Makes sense." Sunset said as Cherry navigated into a parking spot.
"Can you help bring the groceries inside please?" Cherry requested and Sunset nodded smiling.
Berry placed Ruby in the crib and smiled down at her sleeping daughter.
"Hey Berry." Sunset said from the bed smiling.
"Yeah, Sunshim?" She said distractedly.
"Thanks for letting me sleep here. Your sister is pretty cool too." Sunset stood up and quickly gave Berry a hug. Berry turned red and returned the hug. She was glad with her skin made it hard to tell when she was blushing.
"No problem." She managed to get out. "Can you stay with Ruby while I go take care of something with my sister?"
Sunset nodded and let go of Berry. She sat down in the chair next to the crib and stared at the sleeping baby.
Berry slipped out the room and into the living room. She looked back and forth before reaching behind the book shelf and moved it and opened a hole in the wall and pulled out a case of beer, whiskey bottle and some wine. She carried them to the kitchen.
"Berry, what are you doing?" Cherry's voice came from behind her.
Berry froze. "Nothing." She lied.
Cherry narrowed her eyes as they fell upon the alcohol. "Where did you get that?" She demanded.
Berry sighed. "Behind the bookcase. There was a hole already in the wall, so I hid it in there."
Cherry stood at the sink next to her. "And what are you gonna do with all this now?" She questioned, gesturing at the alcohol.
Berry sighed and looked up at her. "Pour it out. Ever since Sunset came here, I haven't been needing a drink. I'm not lonely anymore." She took a cap off a beer and started to pour it down the kitchen sink.
Cherry stood in silence before reaching in and taking a beer herself before opening it and pouring it out. Soon enough, the two girls were down to the wine.
Berry got down two shot glasses and poured two shots.
"Berry." Cherry said warningly, narrowing her eyes.
Berry held a hand up. "One last shot." She slid a glass over to Cherry who took it after hesitating.
"One last shot." she agreed.
She and Berry gently knocked the glasses together before tossing the alcohol down. Cherry grimaced while Berry gave out a sigh and poured out the wine.
Berry sighed and stirred her cereal half heartedly. She lifted the spoon and put the cereal in her mouth and half heartedly ate the cereal.
"Are you okay, sis?" Cherry asked.
Berry's hair was disheveled, her eyes had dark circles under them and she looked tired.
"Yeah. Alcohol withdrawal is just a bitch." She admitted. "You're not supposed to just quit like this. You're supposed to slowly quit over time. Trouble sleeping is all."
Cherry nodded slowly. "Would medicine help?" She offered.
Berry shook her head to her sister's chagrin. She paused.
"Well, maybe some Ibuprofen or Tylenol. That's about the only that'll help." Berry mumbled around a spoonful of cereal.
Cherry stood up and headed to the medicine cupboard and put the code in to unlock it.
"Cherry, I can get it after. Just eat, please." Berry said. She glanced over to her daughter who was making a mess in the highchair and gave a sigh. "Sunset, can you bring me a wet washcloth please?" She requested. Sunset nodded and stood up from her oatmeal.
"Wait!" Berry exclaimed and Sunset froze. "I didn't realize you were still eating. It can wait, finish your food." She gestured to the seat. Sunset shook her head to Berry's frustration.
"Why are you two not listening and just doing all this?" She gestured around her.
Cherry slid some chocolate milk and some Tylenol to Berry. "Because we care about you, dummy. And we want to help you."
"Mhm." Sunset agreed as she returned with a washcloth and started wiping off Ruby's face and hands.
Berry sighed. "Sorry, the withdrawal is making me moody."
Sunset put a hand on her shoulder hesitantly and Berry tensed. "We understand, Berry. It's okay and not your fault."
"Yeah." Cherry piped in and sat down at her cereal and shoved a spoonful into her mouth. "This will pass. You're a strong young women. We'll help however you need."
Sunset nodded as she finished up cleaning Ruby. "We care about you, Berry." She stuck a finger out to Ruby and she grabbed it and started shaking it while Sunset giggled. Sunset gently pulled it free and sat down at her oatmeal and took a bite, smiling at Berry.
Berry sighed and smiled back. She picked up her bowl and carried it to the kitchen, sitting it in the sink. She strolled past the table and headed up the stairs to the bathroom. She pulled her shirt off and unclasped her bra, letting them fall to the floor. She undid her skirt and let it fall down and removed her underwear. She stepped into the shower and pulled the curtain closed. She turned the warm water on and closed her eyes sighing.
She opened her eyes and reached for the shampoo bottle and squirted some onto her hand and she rubbed it into her hair. Satisfied, she closed her eyes and put her hair into the water and rinsed out the shampoo out. She took the washcloth and washed under her arms and down her legs. She turned around a few times in the shower, rinsing all the shampoo off her body. She reached out and turned the handle and the water stopped.
She pulled the curtain aside and stepped out, water dripping off her. She reached for a towel and dried her hair. She opened the closet door and took her hairbrush and started brushing her hair till it was in her usual style.
Glancing down at her arm accidentally, she bit her lip and looked away from the old cut marks she had on her arms. She reached out for her bathrobe and tied it around her. She gathered her clothes and carried it out to her room and dumped them in her laundry basket.
She opened her closet and pulled out a purple blouse and a white skirt. She dropped the bathrobe on the bed and put on a new bra. She pulled her blouse on over her and slipped her skirt up. She looked in the mirror and realized a tiny part of her scars were noticeable. She pulled open the closet and took a pink jacket out and put it on smiling. She finally felt comfortable enough and becoming a lot like her self again after a warm shower and a good cleaning.
"So." Cherry started, taking a sip of her tea and looked to Sunset. "What do you plan on doing when Berry is in school and Ruby's at daycare?"
Sunset held her coffee in the hand and stopped mid sip.
"I don't know. What is that sixteen year olds normally do here?" Sunset questioned.
Cherry scratched her head. "Typically, they go to school, clubs such like that."
"Oh uh, right. Cool. I guess I could do that." Sunset said smiling. "I do like school and learning."
Cherry snorted. "Never heard anybody say. Berry only likes chemistry and history class."
Sunset smiled as the image of Berry wearing a white doctors coat and goggles, leaning over a beaker full of chemicals went through her mind.
Cherry giggled at Sunset's expression.
"She's a pretty cool girl, isn't she?" Cherry asked smirking.
"What, who?" Sunset asked, blushing slightly.
Cherry gave her a knowing look and winked, smirking still.
"It's our little secret, don't worry." She reassured her.
"I really don't know what you're talking about." Sunset mumbled, putting some oatmeal in her mouth.
Cherry only grinned.
"What do I need exactly to go to school here?" Sunset suddenly inquired.
Cherry tapped her chin. "Background from another school. Grades, stuff like that."
"Yeah I don't got none of that." Sunset shook her head.
Cherry frowned at that. "I'll be back." She pushed her chair out and stood up.
"Where are you going?" Sunset asked.
Cherry gave her a look. "The less you know, the better. Can you do the dishes please?"
Sunset nodded.
"Thanks." Cherry said as she grabbed her keys and headed out the door. She shut the door behind her and Sunset sighed at the sight of the stack of dishes.
Ruby made a noise and Sunset glanced at her.
"Oops sorry little one. We forgot all about you." Sunset smiled as she lifted Ruby out and placed her on the kitchen floor with some toys.
Cherry parked her car on a side street parking lot and stepped out. She double checked anything of value was hidden and the car was locked. She stepped on the sidewalk, warily looking around her. She paid careful attention to the run down buildings and the people standing on the street in matching colors. She glanced down and made a disgusted face at a used condom and a needle. She carefully stepped around the needle.
She paid careful attention to a guy with a rose tattoo visible on his arm under his shirt.
He approached her and she tightened her grip on the small pistol in her jacket she had gotten from her shadier years.
"Hey there Cherry. Haven't seen you in years. How's Berry?" The man asked.
"Hey, Side Ways." She greeted curtly. "My sister is fine."
"What brings you to this side of town? Haven't seen you since you decided you were too good for us lowlifes." Side Ways stated.
Cherry rolled her eyes. "That wasn't why I left and you know it. Listen, I need some documents forged. Documents needed to get into high school."
Side Ways gave her a curious look. "Why are you trying to get back into high school?"
She shook her head. "I'm not. It's for a friend. She doesn't have the proper paperwork. I'll also need documents to get her a job."
Side Ways rubbed his chin. "The work documentation is gonna be a bit harder. I'll do the school ones for free, you gotta do some for me to get the documents for a job." He eyed her up and down.
Cherry narrowed her eyes. "I'm not having sex with you, so forget it."
Side Ways let out a laugh and put a hand to his chest. "Why, Cherry I never meant that. I'm not that cruel."
"Yes you are." She instantly pointed out.
"Yeah, you're right I am." He agreed. "I just need you to sell something for me." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a baggie of white powder.
Cherry's eyes widened.
"I need at least five thousand for this baggie." He explained and stepped to her. "Sell this, and you'll get the paperwork. Plus some monetary benefit."
She glared at him. "I don't want or need your money."
He sighed. "Just let me give you the money. Times are hard right now for everyone. I bet you could use it for groceries."
He had a point she admitted. She could use the spare money to get Sunset her own bed instead of her sleeping on the floor and they would be covered for groceries and rent for a few months.
"Fine." She conceded.
"Excellent." He stepped closer and put it in a glove and tied it shut.
"So your fingerprints aren't on the bag." He explained at her curious look. "I don't want you getting in trouble."
"Gee, thanks." She grumbled as she accepted the gloved baggie and hid it in her jacket.
"Once you've sold it, you can meet me at the park in Canterlot's Garden. I'll be next to the fountain on a bench. Bring it by Tuesday night, nine pm." He said coolly.
She nodded and turned to leave.
"Oh and Cherry?" He called out after her.
"What?" She replied icily.
"The next time you come over, do make it less obvious you're packing heat. I'd hate for anyone to get the wrong idea and gun you down." He replied back.
"How did you know I had a gun?" She demanded and he rolled his eyes.
"Cherry, you've kept your right hand in your pocket the entire time. I remember way back when that was your preferred spot to hold any weapon." He explained with a smirk.
"Oh." Cherry muttered with a blush. She removed her hand from her pocket.
"Stay safe Cherry." Side Ways called out as she strode away.
She waved her hand behind her and disappeared around the corner to her car.
She unlocked it and plopped down in the driver seat and double checked all her belongings were in it.
Satisfied, she shakily pulled her phone out.
"I can't believe I'm about to do this, but." She dialed a number and held the phone up to her ear.
"Hey Dad. Got something you might be interested in."
Berry groaned as her eyes opened. She heard sounds of crying and Sunset begging. She shot down the stairs.
She took in the scene of Sunset with a bottle and Ruby in her arms, begging her to stop crying with wide eyes.
"Please stop crying. I'm trying to feed you." Sunset begged. "Let Berry sleep, she needs it. Sunset is here."
Berry pinched her nose. "Sunset, what is happening down here?"
Sunset jumped a bit before looking behind her.
"Oh, hey Berry. Hope we didn't wake you." She glanced back down at Ruby who was turning red from crying.
Berry knelt down and took Ruby and the bottle and stuck it in her mouth and Ruby started to quiet down and drink.
Sunset stared in wide eyes. "How in Equestria did you manage that?" She asked in an awed voice.
Berry winked at her. "It's a mother's gift." She teased and looked around. "Where's Cherry at? I'm surprised she didn't come running."
"Cherry is out right now. Doing some errand or something." Sunset replied as she stared at Berry.
"Huh. Did she say where she was going?" Berry asked idly, watching her daughter.
"No. All she said was, the less I know the better and drove off." Sunset answered.
Berry glanced up at Sunset and narrowed her eyes. "Wait, did she seriously say that?"
"Uhm, yes. Why, does it mean anything to you?" Sunset nervously asked, slightly put off by the intense look Berry was giving her.
"No. Nothing at all." Berry muttered and broke her gaze, looking back down at Ruby who fell asleep. "Thanks for watching her for me. Sorry I fell asleep accidentally, I'm just so tired. Next time, just come get me. I'd rather me get woken up then you have a massive migraine."
Sunset nodded. "Okay."
Both girls sniffed the air and made faces.
"Well, smells like she needs a diaper changed." Berry mumbled. "Be right back." She disappeared upstairs.
Cherry pressed her forehead against the steering wheel.
"I can't believe I'm doing this." She muttered to herself before stepping out of the car and working her way to where a skinny short man sat. He had brown hair and a beard with sunken in eyes.
He stood up when Cherry approached and started to open his arms.
"Don't touch me." She warned.
He dropped his hands down to his side. "Straight to business, huh? That's so like you. Got the drugs?"
She rolled her eyes in disgust. "Yeah, I got them. This is a one time thing. Never again. Do you got the money?"
"Yeah. How much again?" He asked as he pulled off his backpack.
"Five thousand." She said coldly.
He froze. "What the fuck? Five thousand for a tiny bag, are you fucking serious?"
"It's quality. Straight from Side Ways. You know his reputation as a solid drug pusher." Cherry argued.
The man seemed to be internally fighting with himself before sighing.
"Fine. Here." He handed her the money and she counted it out. Satisfied it was all there and wasn't fake, she put it in her pocket. She pulled the glove out and carefully cut it open and dumped the baggie into his open bag.
She turned to leave.
"Wait." He called out.
She slowly turned around. "What do you want now, dad?" She asked with venom in her voice.
"Is Berry okay?" He asked quietly.
Fury flashed over Cherry's face. "You don't get to say her name. Especially not after how you raised her. So don't ask me that ever again. And don't even think about following me home." She spat out angrily.
He held a hand placatingly. "Fine, I'm sorry."
Cherry raised an eyebrow. "Just go. Get out of here."
He nodded and trudged off to his car.
Cherry sighed before doing the same. She opened the door and slid down into the seat, slamming her head on the steering wheel. A tap on the window made her jerk up.
She rolled her eyes and opened the door.
"I thought you said Tuesday, Side Ways?" She demanded. He smirked and slide in the passenger seat.
"Well I did. But then I got curious to see how important this was to you. So I followed the car." He shrugged and held up a folder. "Got all the documents you asked for. I put Micro Chips to work right after you left and laid into him hard till he did it in a day."
Cherry reached for the folder and he pulled it back.
"Money first." He said with an open hand. She sighed and handed him the five thousand.
He counted it and smiled, putting it in his bag and slid the yellow folder her way. "Good work." He praised.
"Good work? I didn't do fucking good work, I gave my dad drugs to get high off." Cherry snapped.
Her anger grew when he chuckled and waved a hand.
"I had a feeling you would go straight to your old man. That wasn't actually cocaine, it was flour." He explained.
The anger left Cherry. "But how didn't he notice it wasn't drugs?" She asked softly.
Side Ways rolled his eyes. "When you get so addicted to something, you don't really pay attention to what's in the baggie. As long as it vaguely looks similar, they'll take it." He replied. Cherry gave a sigh of relief.
"Won't this affect your reputation?"Cherry pointed out.
Side Ways waved his hand. "Your dad is a hard drug addict. No one will believe him, they'll just assume he used it all and forgot about it somehow."
Cherry nodded. "Okay."
"And for your payment, there's money in the folder." He opened the door and looked back at her. "I hope everything goes well for you and the baby."
Cherry sat in stunned silence before speaking. "Wait! How do you know about the baby?"
Side Ways grinned and pointed to the baby seat in the backseat and shut the door, walking away.
"Oh." Cherry mumbled blushing. "I should have taken that out."
Berry sat on the couch, flipping through the channels on the TV while Sunset stared in fascination. Ruby was asleep in the crib upstairs and Berry's door was cracked open for them to hear her if she started crying.
"How in Equestria are you doing this? Is this magic?" Sunset asked in wonder.
Berry giggled and rolled her eyes. "No silly. TV stations send signals up to satellites in the sky, satellites send them back to the ground to cable companies, the signals go back up to more satellites, then bounces down the TVs, which had components in it to make images on the screen." She explained smiling at Sunset's expression.
"That sounds complicated." Sunset finally said.
"It is a bit." Berry admitted as she idly flipped the stations before her eyes lit up and she stayed on one.
"What's this one?" Sunset asked as three jets flew down and changed shape, shooting from their shoulder mounted null rays.
"Transformers!" Berry exclaimed quietly. "This is the original cartoon from the nineteen eighties, I've seen these episodes hundreds of times."
Sunset smiled softly at the other girls growing excitement.
"The Transformers, robots in disguise, more than meets the eye" Berry sang with the shows intro, laughing.
Sunset snickered and turned slightly red as Berry laid her head on Sunset's lap. Both girls eyes focused on the TV as the show played.
"I will build the ultimate weapon to defeat the Autobots, to control the planet and conquer the universe!" The grey robot laughed as he threw the gems into the air.
"Who's that one?" Sunset asked.
"That's Megatron." Berry explained. "He's the leader of the Decepticons, super powerhungry and evil. Also the master of goofy ass laughs. And the dark blue one next to him is Soundwave. He's their communications officer and transforms into like a tapdeck. Really old thing that used to play tapes."
Sunset nodded and fell quiet again, watching the show. "How did you know all that about the TVs and satellites, by the way?" She asked.
Berry snickered. "I had a feeling you would ask about how it works once I showed it, so I googled how they work earlier this morning on my phone."
"What's a phone? Is it like a mobile TV?" Sunset questioned.
Berry giggled and pulled her phone out and handed it to Sunset. "Nah this is a phone." She put her pin in and opened it. "It has everything, I can call people text then, play games and watch YouTube." Her eyes lit up. "Wait here." She bolted up the stairs.
Sunset's eyes followed her up the stairs before falling back on the TV.
"This weapon will enable me to strike at the Autobots through Optimus Primes only weakness, his overdeveloped sense of honor." Megatron said laughing and Sunset rolled her eyes.
"All your plans fail, this one will too." She muttered under her breath.
She glanced over at Berry sliding down next to her. "Here." She handed Sunset a phone. "It's my old phone. It doesn't have service on it or anything, so we'll have to ask Cherry to get it activated again. You can play games, watch YouTube."
Sunset took it and turned it over, looking at it. "Thanks Berry." She smiled a gave Berry a quick hug.
"Wait." Berry interjected. "Let me put my phone number into it real quick." She quickly took it from Sunset, and opened her contacts and added herself. She put a smiley face emoji and a grape. After a moments hesitation, she added a red heart and saved it. She blushed slightly as she passed it to Sunset.
Sunset smiled as Berry laid her head back on Sunset's lap and Sunset's hand idly messed with her hair. The two sat there watching cartoons till the sound of the apartment door unlocking made them jump. Berry quickly grabbed the remote and shut the tv off.
"I thought we were watching that?" Susnet quietly questioned.
Berry pressed her finger gently to Sunsets lips. "I'm gonna ask Cherry where she was. Element of surprise." She waved a hand. "Plus, I own all the seasons on DVD. We can watch them whenever."
A light flicked on in the kitchen as Cherry worked her way through the apartment.
"Sunset did a pretty good job on dishes." She admired the plates before shutting the light off and headed through the living room.
"Hello, sister." Berry said calmly.
Cherry let out a loud yelp before glaring at her sister. She could barely make out her and Sunset's shape in the dark.
"Berry, why are you two sitting in the dark?" She demanded.
"Waiting for you." Berry answered simply. Her eyes narrowed. "Where have you been?"
Cherry rolled her eyes and flicked the light on. "Out doing work."
Berry yelped at the bright light and flung herself face first into a pillow. Sunset slammed her eyes shut and slowly opened them till they adjusted.
Cherry raised the yellow folder. "I've got the documents you need Sunset."
Sunset gave a big smile. "Thanks."
Berry gazed at the two in confusion.
"Documents for what?" She asked.
"So Sunset can attend highschool in the next two weeks with you." Cherry explained.
Berry grinned up at Sunset. "Wait, you're coming to school with me too?" She asked excitedly.
Sunset nodded, smiling.
Berry hugged her. "Thank you." Her muffled voice said.
Cherry smiled as she opened the folder and pulled out the money inside.
Her eyes slightly went wide at the amount. Thirty thousand was a lot to her, especially right now. She walked over to a safe on the ground and opened it after putting the code in and set the money inside along with the firearm.
Closing the folder, she crossed back over to Sunset and handed her it. "Has documentation for you to get a job too if you wanted."
Sunset lifted the heavy folder and nodded smiling. "Thank you." She whispered.
Cherry smiled. "Not a problem. Now go bed, both of you. Gotta get back into the schedule of going to bed on time for school."
"Yes mom." Berry grumbled as she stood up, pulling Sunset up with her. Cherry watched the two head into Berry's room before shaking her head.
"Adorable."
Berry breathed in softly as she felt Sunset wrap an arm around her under the blankets.
"Sunshim? Are you awake?" Berry nervously asked.
"Mhm." Sunset drowsily mumbled. "What's up?"
"What's Equestria like? You don't really talk about it much." Berry stated.
Sunset tightened her grip on Berry and gave a sigh.
"Well, we control the weather. No storms happen without the pegasi letting happen. The princess raises the sun and moon. Her sister used to raise the moon but she got banished to the moon." Sunset replied.
Berry raised an eyebrow. "Wish that could happen here. Controlling the weather sounds fun."
"Well, if you were a pegasi you could yes." Sunset added.
"Is there only pegasi in Equestria?" Berry asked.
Sunset snickered. "Nah there's earth ponies, unicorns, pegasi. Dragons and other creatures considered to be myths here."
Berry nodded. "Which are you?"
"If it wasn't for the portals magic, you'd be talking to an orange unicorn right now." Sunset answered.
Berry giggled. "Unicorns are cool. What's an earth pony do?"
"Earth ponies grow the food. They have better skills when it comes to growing and harvesting." Sunset explained.
Berry giggled at the idea of covering the entire house in foliage and grape vines.
"Being an earth pony sounds fun." Berry decided.
"If we were in Equestria, I could teleport using my magic and shoot lasers." Sunset offered.
Berry thought about that for a moment. "That sounds cool. I'd be down to be one of those."
Sunset smiled at her. "Pegasi can fly, when we first met you said it would be cool to be a bird and fly."
"I really hate you somedays, you know that? All three sound cool." Berry grumbled. "What's the princess' name?" She suddenly asked.
"You can't hate me, I'm too friendly and kind for that." Sunset put puppy dog eyes on while Berry rolled her eyes.
"You're right, fair point." She admitted.
Berry sniffed the air and turned her head to face Sunset. "You smell like lilacs. Have you been using my shampoo?"
Sunset looked slightly nervous and gave a laugh. "Uh, maybe? I can stop if you want." She offered.
Berry shook her head. "No. It's fine. " She replied smiling. She laid her head back down and gazed at Ruby's sleeping form and heard tiny snoring sounds coming from the crib.
"The princess is named Celestia. Her sister was named luna." Sunset replied.
Berry gave her a shocked look. "Wait, you mean the principal and vice principal are Princesses?"
Sunset froze. "I was Celestia's prized pupil. She's the leader at your school?"
Berry nodded. "Are you sure you want to go to school with me still?" Sher asked nervously.
To her relief, Sunset nodded. "Yes. As long as you're there, I'll be fine."
Berry smiled at her and rolled back over, pushing against Sunset.
Berry heard snoring from behind her after what felt like hours and she smiled softly. She closed her eyes and soon fell asleep.
Sunset sighed contently as she rubbed the shampoo into her hair. She laughed to herself as she realized she was accidentally using Berry's shampoo again, even though Cherry had long since got her a bottle of her own.
"Old habits, I suppose." Sunset mused aloud. She gave a sigh as she stepped forward into the stream of water to rinse her hair and slammed her eyes shut. She reached out and turned the water off and stepped out onto the towel, letting some water drip off her before she reached for her towel hanging up and wrapped it around it.
She glanced at her phone and rolled her eyes when she saw it was still only four am. She poked her head out the bathroom door and looked both ways before walking out and into her shared room with Berry. She quietly eased into the room and pulled some pajama pants on.
"Sunshim?" She heard Berry grumble and the bed move. She froze and Berry turned to her, cracking an eye open.
Berry's eyes went wide and she quickly shut them, facing the wall.
"Sorry." She squeaked. "Didn't realize you weren't dressed."
Sunset quickly pulled a shirt on and snickered. "It's okay, hell back home we don't usually wear clothes. It's a pretty big change for me, especially in this body."
Berry rolled back to her. "Interesting. I can't really imagine walking around naked all the time. Sounds dangerous." She shuddered.
Sunset shrugged. "When you think of your fur as a layer of clothing, it's not so bad. It's not really dangerous either unless you're in a bad part of Canterlot or Manehatten."
Berry raised an eyebrow. "There's another Manehatten and Canterlot in your world?"
Sunset nodded. "As far as I can tell, this world is an exact copy of Equestria. Differences are electronics, cars and advanced buildings. And obviously being human, not a pony."
"Coolio." Berry pulled the covers open. "Come back to bed, it's too early."
Sunset slid in next to her and gave a content sigh as she felt Berry wrap an arm around her.
"Your hair smells nice." Berry mumbled into a mass of orange and red hair. "You used my shampoo again, didn't you?"
Sunset let out a nervous chuckle. "Maybe?"
Berry giggled. "I should give you it at this point, honestly."
"It's fine. Sorry for using it still." Sunset muttered.
"Not a problem. Why were you showering at four am, anyway?" Berry questioned.
"Couldn't sleep." Sunset admitted. She shivered. "Bad dream."
Berry tightened her grip. "Do you wanna talk about it?"
"I'm... not sure." Sunset admitted.
Berry removed her arm and forced Sunset to look at her. The two laid staring into one another's eyes.
"You can trust me, Sunset." Berry said.
Sunset sighed. "I know. I just dreamed you and Cherry got tired of me and threw me out. Guess I couldn't sleep after that."
Berry did something she still couldn't believe she did. She leaned in and kissed Sunset's forehead. "Silly, we'll never kick you out. We love having you around."
Sunset nodded. "I hope so." She stared at Berry's mouth and moved in close.
Berry's breath caught in her throat.
"You have some chocolate on the edge of your mouth from earlier. I'll go get the wash cloth." Sunset rolled out of bed and headed to the bathroom. She eased out the room and disappeared.
Berry growled in frustration and flung herself face first into her pillow.
"I really thought she was gonna kiss me. Why did I do something so stupid and kiss her forehead?" Berry grumbled quietly to herself and smacked her forehead with her hand.
Sunset leaned on the edge of the sink with her hands as she stared at the reflection in the mirror.
"What the hell just happened?" She muttered to herself. She turned the water on and quickly splashed herself with warm water.
"There's literally no way she could possibly like me, I'm literally the worst possible choice for her. I have anxiety and hate crowds of people. Then again, so does she. Crowds make her panic." Sunset mused quietly. "The forehead kiss was nice and she does keep asking me to sleep with her. Hell, she doesn't even need to ask me, I automatically get next to her every night." She grabbed a washcloth and headed back to her room.
"Hey Berry, I got the washcloth-." Sunset stopped mid sentence when she saw Berry asleep, snoring and drooling a bit on her pillow.
Sunset gave a sigh. "Thank Celestia. There was no chocolate anyway." She tossed the wash cloth into the laundry bin in the corner and slipped into bed next to Berry. She double checked she was asleep and kissed Berry's forehead.
"Goodnight, Berry." Sunset whispered.
Cherry grumbled incoherently as she poured her coffee. She added her creamer and took a long sip, sighing contently.
"Sis, that's your fourth cup in twenty minutes. What's going on?" Berry asked from the dining room table, cutting her waffle.
"Nothing." Cherry mumbled. Berry raised an eyebrow and narrowed her eyes.
"I'm not stupid. You only drink coffee like this when you're stressed, or mad. Which is it?" Berry questioned.
Cherry focused on her sister as Berry gave Ruby a cut up piece of her waffle. Cherry sighed and sat down in the chair next to Berry.
"Work has been stressful. I'm training three new people and doing a managers job without actually being a manager or getting a managers pay. Literally only managers are allowed to be in the back office and sort hiring sheets and make the schedule. There's a bunch of other shit they have me doing that I haven't even mentioned." Cherry grumbled. She turned red. "Stuff, not the swear word. I forgot Ruby was there."
Berry snickered and turned serious. "Maybe they are testing you to see how you handle being a manager and will make you one after this?" She offered.
Cherry shrugged and sipped her coffee. "I doubt it. I haven't heard anything about any manager spots opening or anyone quitting. I mean, it's not like the pay difference will be huge. I already make a decent amount working at a bank."
Berry nodded and sipped her orange juice. "So it's not about the money, it's about the position."
Cherry shrugged again. "I guess? I'm not sure. It's just been a stressful, busy week. Thank God we are closed on the weekend."
Berry nodded as she gave Ruby another waffle piece.
"Where's Sunset?" Cherry asked.
"She's still asleep. She was up at four am taking a shower because she couldn't sleep. I didn't have the heart to tell her taking a shower wakes you up, not help you fall asleep." Berry explained.
Cherry rolled her eyes. "That girl is an engima."
Berry nodded and tossed some waffle in her mouth. The two fell into silence eating with Ruby's occasional noises. She pointed at Berry and said, "mom."
Berry and Cherry froze and looked to each other.
"Did she just-?" Cherry began.
Berry stared at Ruby before a grin broke out on her face. "I think so." Berry pulled her phone out and hit record.
"Come on, Ruby say it again." Berry coaxed.
"Mom." Ruby pointed again at Berry, then clapped her hands. Berry gave a loud laugh and quit recording, saving the video to her phone.
"She's growing up so fast." Cherry stated, admiring Ruby and gave her a strawberry.
Berry stole a strawberry from her sisters plate and popped it in her mouth. She giggled at the dirty look she received.
"Where did you get these strawberries?" Berry questioned.
"Strawberry Sunrise was watching her mothers stand yesterday at the farmers market. Strange, Roma was doing the same thing." Cherry said, rubbing her chin. "Interesting."
Berry chewed on the strawberry. "Not bad. I haven't seen Strawberry around school recently."
"Oh, didn't you hear? She transferred schools." Cherry stated.
Berry raised an eyebrow. "No, I didn't. What school?" She scoffed. "Don't tell me Crystal Prep, stuck up jerks."
To her relief, Cherry shook her head. "No, nothing like that. Some type of online schooling."
"Huh, interesting. Wonder why she did that." Berry mused as she reached over and fondly tussled Ruby's hair.
Cherry shrugged and sipped her coffee and set it down when she realized it was empty. "Something about being bullied she said or something yesterday. She found some derogatory stuff on her locker and her mom had enough."
Berry sat silently as she chewed her waffle, thinking. She broke the silence after a moment.
"Hey, could you do me a favor?" Berry suddenly asked.
Cherry waved her hand in a go on gesture. "What's up?" She asked.
Berry fiddled with her fork. "Could you take me and Sunset to the movies tomorrow night?" She asked hopefully.
Cherry raised an eyebrow. "Sure, what movie do we wanna see?"
Berry looked down nervously. "That's kinda the thing, I want it to be just me and her."
"Oh." Cherry replied.
"I'm sorry, please don't be mad. You can come if you want." Berry looked up at her sisters face and realized she was smirking.
"I'm not mad, silly. Soo" She leaned in close and finished her sentence. "Is this a date?" She winked and raised both eyebrows, giggling.
Berry turned bright red and hid her face. "I'm not sure." She admitted. "I want it to be, but I don't know. I'm nervous."
Cherry rolled her eyes and placed a hand on Berry's shoulder. "Just ask her, it'll be fine. You're an attractive young women, have confidence."
Berry sighed. "Am I?" She asked in a near whisper. Cherry's grip tightened.
"Yes. You are." She declared adamantly. "Tell you what, let me do your make up tomorrow night. It'll be enough to blow her away. But don't think you need makeup to look beautiful, Ber. You got natural beauty." Cherry smiled at her younger sister.
Berry smiled softly back. "Okay. You may have Shoeshine and Sea Swirl here competing for that right."
Cherry rolled her eyes. "As older sister, I take all rights regarding putting make up on my baby sister. Older sister guidebook." She gave a wink. "They can hold the make up for me."
Berry gave a laugh. "Okay."
"What movie were you thinking?" Cherry asked, grinning.
Berry shrugged. "I don't know. Star Wars maybe? Or Transformers? Maybe the Conjuring if she likes horror." She gave a brief shudder.
Cherry gave a snort. "Berry, you hate horror." She pointed out. "She must be special if you're willing to sit through the Conjuring for her."
Berry shivered again as she remembered the last time she watched a horror movie. The results had been her sleeping with Cherry for the next three months.
"Anyway," Cherry continued. "Sunset doesn't seem to be into horror. I'd take her to a action movie or a sci-fi film."
Berry gave a brief nod. "So something like National Treasure?" She questioned, poking Ruby's cheek and giggling with her daughter.
Cherry shrugged. "That is a great one. Either that or Night At The Museum. We own that on disk. National Treasure could help her learn a lot about our country."
Berry thought for a moment and nodded. "She does like learning. It's almost scary to be honest. Imagine liking learning." She shuddered.
Cherry gave her a flat look. "Says the girl who chose to take AP English this year. And economics."
"Touché." Berry admitted. A sound at the stairs caught there attention as Sunset stumbled down the stairs.
"Good morning, Sunset." Cherry greeted.
Sunset gave her a look and growled incoherent words.
"What was that?" Cherry questioned.
"Don't talk to me until I've had my coffee. Please" Sunset added.
Cherry gave her a concerned look. "Are you okay? You've been testy these past couple weeks."
"I'm fine." Sunset answered curtly.
Cherry nodded. "Okay."
She and Berry exchanged looks, one nervous and one almost guilty looking. Cherry narrowed her eyes slightly at Berry's expression before the girl looked away.
Sunset plopped down at the table and took a long sip. She reached over and stole a piece of Berry's waffle.
"Hey!" She exclaimed and feigned sadness. "My waffle."
Cherry snickered as Sunset popped it in her mouth.
"Wow. Okay, waffles are amazing." Sunset admitted.
Berry raised an eyebrow. "You had waffles for breakfast last week."
Sunset nodded. "Indeed. And before then, I hadn't had any since I was a filly."
Cherry rolled her eyes. "Here we go again." She mumbled quietly to herself.
Berry propped her elbows on the table. "What's it like it to be a filly?"
Sunset shrugged. "It's meh. I was a typical filly, playing with the few friends I had, trying to get my cutie mark. Stuff like that."
Berry looked at her confused. "What's a cutie mark?"
Sunset inhaled. "When you discover your special talent in Equestria, you get a symbol on your flanks of it."
Berry pondered that for a moment. "And what's yours?"
Sunset pointed to her shirt. "It looks like that. It's a shimmering sun. The red half stands for ambition, and the gold is to represent accomplishing my tasks."
Cherry decided to amuse the two. "So it's a tattoo?"
Sunset gave a shrug. "That's the best way to describe it. Of course, it can be removed by magic or Tirek."
"Tirek?" Berry questioned.
Sunset visibly shivered. "He was a villain in Equestrian history. He wanted to steal all the magic from the ponies of Equestria, but he was betrayed by his brother and put in Tartarus. Last time I checked, he was still there."
Berry shivered. "That sounds awful."
Sunset nodded. "It is. I've only heard of him in stories, hell most ponies don't even know he exists anymore."
Cherry gave a sigh. "As long as this conversation about fantasy worlds excites me, you two have school to get to."
Berry rolled her eyes. "It's not fantasy, but fine." She grabbed her bag and an pear on her way out.
Sunset sighed and hoisted the backpack on and grabbed a can of olives.
"In case of olive emergencies." She explained to Cherry's confused expression. She ran out the door to catch up with Berry.
"So." Shoeshine stared at Berry. "Did you ask her?"
Berry kicked the ground. "Not yet, no."
Shoeshine and Sea Swirl groaned in unison. The three girls sat on a bench outside the school, waiting for the bell to ring for first hour.
"But!" Berry began. "I plan on asking her later to go tomorrow with me."
Sea Swirl smiled. "Good. About damn time."
Berry sighed. "I may or may not have done something stupid last night though."
"What did you do?" Shoeshine grumbled.
"So, Sunset took a shower at four am. She came into the room. Was telling me some personal stuff and I accidentally kissed her on the forehead. While she was awake." Berry admitted.
"And?" Sea Swirl pressed.
"She looked at my mouth, leaned in close and then said I had chocolate around my mouth and went to get a washcloth." Berry grumbled.
Shoeshine groaned. "You two need to quit beating around the bush. Just kiss already, my god."
"I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I agree with Shoeshine." Sea Swirl agreed.
"Cherry is gonna do my make up tomorrow night, so I have that to look forward to I suppose." Berry mumbled.
Sea Swirl clapped her hands excitedly.
"Can we help?" Sea Swirl begged and gave her puppy dog eyes.
Berry couldn't turn down her begging eyes.
"I told Cherry you'd say that. She said sure, as long as you don't get in the way she said." Berry conceded.
Shoeshine rolled her eyes, but smiled.
"I look forward to it. I guess." She admitted. She gave a wicked smile. "So, have you seen her without clothes on yet? You two do share a room and all. Ow!"
Sea Swirl smacked her upside the head. "Don't ask that."
Shoeshine glowered at Sea Swirl and growled.
"Actually I have last night accidentally." Berry admitted as the bell rang. She jumped and checked her phone. "Gotta go. Class starts in five minutes." She gave a wave as she ran for the door.
"Wait!" Shoeshine called out after her. "You have any explicit dreams about her yet?"
Sea Swirl smacked her head again.
"Hit me again, I dare ya bitch." Shoeshine growled. "Ow! I didn't mean literally, fucker."
Sea Swirl snickered as she took off for the door.
"This is not over!" Shoeshine yelled after her as she gave chase.
"Alright, I'm passing out the first of our economic exams for this quarter." Holly Dash explained, as she passed out the papers.
Everyone minus Sunset let out a groan.
"Now, now. It's not all that bad." She chided. "You can use notes for this test but no sharing your answers. If it helps, I can turn on some soft background music."
Lyra's hand shot up.
"Yes, Lyra?" Holly asked calmly.
"Can me and Bon Bon go to Counselor Inkwells office? She said she would help us with our tests." Lyra asked.
Holly nodded. "You two can go, but I expect you two to not cheat." She gave Lyra a pointed look. She and Bon Bon packed up their tests and left the room.
"You have all class to finish this, so don't rush. Flitter, I mean it." She said as Flitter opened her mouth and promptly shut it. "Take as long as you want, there's no hurry." She gave a smile Flitter's direction and she nodded. Cloudchaser leaned over and whispered something and she nodded again.
The two looked at Sunset who shot them a dirty look and they slid into their seats to seem smaller.
Sunset picked her pencil up and started writing. Even after all this time, she mused, it still was foreign to actually use hands and not her mouth to write. She stole a glance at Berry, who had her pencil in her mouth and was chewing on it absentmindedly in thought.
Sunset gave a content sigh and let a faint smile play on her face. Wow, she's cute when she is focused and thinking, Sunset mused in amusement. Her face grew red at the thought of thinking Berry as cute.
Quiet snickering got her attention and she looked over at the source. Thunderlane nudged Cloudchaser and pointed to Berry.
Sunset felt herself getting angry and she turned around. She snatched a book off the desk of the girl behind her.
"Give me that." She snarled quietly.
"Hey, give me that back." Cherry Crash snapped.
"Shut the hell up." Sunset retorted. She aimed and threw the book at Thunderlane, hitting him square in the nose. He grabbed at it as red started to leak through his fingers and he stared at Sunset. Cloudchaser gave a soft gasp as Thunderlane raised his hand.
"Yes, Thunderlane?" Holly asked as she set down her book.
"Can I go to the office? I got a bloody nose." He asked nervously looking at Sunset.
"Yeah sure go." She got some paper towel and handed him it. "You can finish your test later, but this better not be a fake to get out of it."
"It's not." Cloudchaser mumbled, staring at Sunset. Sunset smirked at her and she looked away.
Susnet glanced over to Berry who was oblivious to the whole thing and busy writing on her test. Sunset sighed and went back to her test.
"How did you do on the test?" Berry asked Sunset as she slid next to her at the lunch table they deemed as their own. Nobody except two other girls sat with them.
She shrugged. "I passed. It was easy."
"Easy for you to say." Shoeshine grumbled.
Sea Swirl rolled her eyes. "Shoe, we were allowed notes. Easy pass."
She raised an eyebrow. "Totally my fault for my brother spilling milk on them."
"Okay, fair point. That did happen." Sea Swirl admitted.
"You could have let me borrow yours." Shoeshine grumbled, flicking Sea Swirl in the shoulder.
"She said no cheating, remember?" Sea Swirl questioned.
Shoeshine rolled her eyes and scoffed as a response.
"So, Sunset." Berry began. Shoeshine and Sea Swirl instantly looked up and focused on the two. "Kinda crowded here right?"
Sunset looked up from her salad. "Uhm, I guess." She went back to eating her salad.
Berry gave a cough and pointed a look at Shoeshine and Sea Swirl.
Shoeshine shrugged. "I suppose so. Seems like the normal amount of people In here to me." She tossed a piece of pepperoni into her mouth.
Sea Swirl rolled her eyes and stood up. "Well, I have to go to the bathroom. Both of us." She added, grabbing Shoeshine's shoulders and lifting her up.
"What's the big idea? I went before coming to lunch." She grumbled.
"She wants privacy to ask Sunset." Sea Swirl hissed quietly in her ear.
Shoeshine's eyes widened. "Yeah, I gotta go to the bathroom too suddenly. All that water I drank." She sped off with Sea Swirl.
"Uhm, they do know the bathrooms are that way right?" Sunset asked as she pointed with a fork in the direction of the restrooms.
Berry shrugged and forced a grin. "Who knows? My friends are weird." She took a deep breath.
"Wanna go see a movie tomorrow night?" Berry asked nervously.
Sunset looked at her in surprise. "Yeah, I'd like that. A lot."
Berry smiled in triumph and went back to eating her lunch.
"Mascara." Cherry held out her band.
"Mascara." Sea Swirl said as she handed it to her.
Cherry applied it on Berry and set it aside.
"Lipstick." She ordered.
"Lipstick." Shoeshine handed her it. Cherry pressed the lipstick against Berry's lips and applied it.
She stepped back and looked over her work. She gave a satisfied little nod.
"We're done." She announced.
"That went faster than I thought to be honest." Berry admitted. "We only sat here for two hours while you three fought over the makeup."
Sea Swirl waved her hand. "First part of applying makeup is fighting over what makeup to use."
Cherry nodded her agreement. "She's right. It's an essential component."
"If you say so." Berry rolled her eyes.
"I'm gonna go check on Sunset." Shoeshine announced. The two girls nodded and Shoeshine slipped out the room.
Sea Swirl looked closer at Berry and leaned in.
"What are you doing?" Berry nervously asked.
"Cherry, do you see what I see?" Sea Swirl asked.
Cherry leaned in close too and gasped.
"The eye shadow. How could I have forgot." Cherry smacked her forehead snd grabbed it.
Berry groaned. "I'm gonna kill myself." She mumbled.
"Alright, we're here." Cherry announced with a smile at her passengers. She turned around and faced Sunset and Berry.
"Have fun you two." She gave a wink at Berry who turned red.
Sunset and Berry got out and Berry looked back at Cherry.
"Thanks, Cherry." She smiled at her older sister.
"Not a problem." Cherry waved a hand. "Enjoy your night."
Berry lead Sunset inside the theater.
"You two can come out now." Cherry called out. The back seat kicked over and two girls shimmied out of the trunk.
"For future reference, trunks aren't comfortable to hide in. Especially with another person." Shoeshine grumbled.
Sea Swirl raised an eyebrow. "You're the one who had her hand up my skirt the entire time."
Shoeshine turned a bright shade of red. "Excuse me, the trunk was tiny as fuck. I didn't mean to."
"Uh huh." Sea Swirl crossed her arms.
Cherry snickered from the front seat. "When are you two gonna date already?"
Shoeshine and Sea Swirl stared at Cherry then back at each other.
"Never, I'd never date her!" The two said in unison.
"If you say so." Cherry teased.
"So, we are just gonna sit here and watch? We can't even see inside the theater. It's enclosed by walls." Sea Swirl climbed into the front seat.
"We're waiting to see if they kiss when they come out." Cherry explained.
"This isn't gonna go well." Shoeshine grumbled then grinned. "Count me in."
"That'll be fifteen dollars." The clerk said, paling when she recognized Sunset.
Berry handed her the money.
The clerk handed her some candy bars, two pop containers and a popcorn bucket.
"It's on the house." She looked nervously at Sunset.
"Are you sure, Mystery? Won't you get in trouble?" Berry questioned.
"No. It's fine." Mystery Mint mumbled.
Berry gave Sunset a shrug and lead her to the room their movie was in.
"What movie is this?" Sunset asked, tossing popcorn in her mouth.
"National Treasure." Berry whispered back. "It's a really good movie, right up your alley."
Sunset gave a smile. "Sounds intriguing. Lots of learning opportunities."
"Is it true, does the president have a secret book?" The character asked on the screen.
The other character took his glasses off. "Do you like ducks?" He asked.
"What does ducks have to do with anything?" Sunset whispered to Berry.
Berry gave a shrug. "I'm not sure." She whispered back.
"There is a book." The other character confirmed.
"Why are you telling me out here?" The first asked.
"Because inside I'm a federal agent, out here I'm talking to you as a friend, Ben." The second explained.
"Where is the presidents book kept?" Ben asked.
"Only the current president knows. The book is passed from president to president. And each one chooses his own hiding place." The second explained.
Ben shrugged. "You're the FBI, can't you get it for me?"
The second shook his head. "The only way you'll see that book is if you get elected president."
Ben looked away. "Well, you never know."
Sunset leaned forward and tossed more popcorn into her mouth.
Berry quietly giggled at her posture.
Sunset leaned back in her seat and slid her hand into Berry's. Berry gave a startled jump before smiling to herself.
"That was amazing." Sunset gushed.
Her and Berry stood up and stretched as the lights came on.
"I know right? I've always loved that movie." Berry replied.
"Lots of fascinating history." Sunset continued as the pair worked their way outside, tossing their trash in the cans.
Berry gave a wave to Mystery Mint who ducked behind the counter when she saw Sunset. Berry pulled back on Sunset's hand as they stood outside.
"What is it, Berry? Wanna see another movie?" Sunset asked.
Berry shook her head. "No. There's uh something just wanna tell you." She looked down and kicked a rock.
"Okay what is it?" Sunset asked and stared at Berry.
Berry looked up. "Well, you see." She fumbled with her words. "Ah fuck it."
She stepped to Sunset and kissed her.
Sunset froze before kissing her back and Berry's eyes widened.
Sunset pulled away, leaving Berry red and panting.
"That was amazing." Sunset admitted. "I didn't think you liked me to be honest."
Berry giggled. "Well, me kissing you should have answered that question." She looked back at Sunset. "Could we do it again?"
Sunset nodded and kissed Berry again. Berry gave a content sigh as she felt Sunset's tongue in her mouth.
Sunset pulled back again to her disappointment.
"So what does this mean now?" Sunset asked.
"Well, I like you. You obviously like me." Berry began and Sunset nodded, blushing. "I guess we are dating now. If you want to date, of course." She hastily added.
Sunset gave an eager nod. "I want to yes." She smiled at Berry.
"YES!"
The two jumped at the loud scream and looked up.
Shoeshine was out of the car, grinning.
Sea Swirl covered Shoeshine's mouth and dragged her into the trunk and shut it.
Berry gawked and turned a bright shade of red. "They watched all of that?" She whispered.
Sunset rolled her eyes in amusement.
"I guess so. One more wouldn't hurt then, I guess." She grinned as she hugged Berry and kissed her a third time.
Author's Note
Just a warning, this chapter will have sex in it. If you aren't interested in that, you can skip that part. It'll be somewhere in the middle or end. Note: all of the actions sunset did manipulation etc in the first movie is still going on, I'm not focusing much on it. Just her Berry and the others.
Chapter Six
"Only real rule is tell me when you're gonna have sex, so I can get out of the house. I love you two but I really don't wanna hear that." Cherry told the two girls sitting in front of her.
Berry turned red. "We aren't doing that."
Sunset nodded. "Yeah. Plus Ruby is here. And she's walking now. That'd scar her for life."
Cherry folded her arms. "Still, my point still stands."
Berry rolled her eyes. "Yes, mom."
"Also, I have a surprise for you two." Cherry said cheerfully.
"What is it?" Berry asked cautiously.
"Well, Sunset accidentally let it slip two months ago that you two sleep in the same bed. Your current bed is a tad bit small, so I bought you two a bigger one. Also a TV for your room and a Xbox. Minor upgrades around the apartment, stuff like that." Cherry said, propping herself up with an elbow.
Berry leaned over the table and gave Cherry a hug. "You didn't have to do that, sis. We were managing fine. We appreciate it though."
Cherry waved a hand. "It's no biggie. Really." A wicked smile crossed her face. "Let me know if you want me to get the room soundproofed."
Berry groaned while Sunset snickered.
"It won't come to that." Sunset announced, still laughing.
"Why is there so many damn cords? Couldn't they have made this a bit easier?" Sunset grumbled, flipping through the manual for the TV.
Berry shrugged as she set the TV on a stand in front of her bed.
"Hell if I know. It'll be worth it in the end." She clapped her hands eagerly. "We can watch Transformers in bed with ice cream and cuddle. We have one last season to get through of the cartoon before we can watch the cartoon movie that ties in with the cartoon."
Shoeshine held up a hand. "If you say cartoon one more time, I will fight you."
Berry rolled her eyes and stuck a tongue out at her.
Sea Swirl snickered, sitting next to Sunset as she played with Ruby. She held up both hands while Ruby smacked them with hers.
"When's her birthday again?" Sea Swirl asked.
Berry paused and looked on in thought.
"Oh lord. It's next month." She sniffled. "My baby is gonna be a year old."
Shoeshine sighed. "You're gonna try to go all out for her party aren't you?"
Berry shrugged. "Maybe. Why?"
Shoeshine sighed again. "Every parent usually goes crazy for their first borns party. The second kid usually gets the same treatment just half heartedly and the third gets what remains of the parents energy. Which usually isn't much."
She kicked the box the TV came in half heartedly and put a hole in it. She looked at Berry sheepishly.
"I hope you weren't planning on reusing that box."
"I wasn't. It's just cardboard." Berry reassured her. She stood up and stretched. Sunset glanced up and stood up quickly.
"What the heck was that?" She demanded.
Berry froze. "What was what?" She asked innocently.
Sunset strode over to her and yanked her shirts wrist up.
"I mean that." She said, gesturing to the old cut marks.
Sea Swirl glared at Berry. "You said you stopped."
Berry yanked her sleeve down and rubbed her wrist. "Those are all old. From when we lived at our parents." She admitted. Sunset sat down.
Shoeshine hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm assuming all the bullying at school didn't help either." She said.
Berry shook her head and cracked a smile. "I'm better now. Really. Haven't even gotten drunk or taken a shot since me and Cherry dumped all my alcohol out down the sink."
Sunset flashed her a proud smile. "Good. Well, less depressing topic please."
Sea Swirl looked around till her eyes fell on Berry's collection. "Get any new Transformers recently?"
Berry brightened up. "Yes. I got Masterpiece Skywarp the other day. He's in the closet at the moment."
She bolted to the door and swung her closet opened. She reached for the top shelf.
"Tada." She held up the box proudly. "First MP that I've ever owned too. Got it for a good price."
Sea Swirl smiled. "Coolio. Christmas is five months away. I need to get everyone gifts still." She flopped onto Berry's bed.
Shoeshine stared at her. "It's five months away. You got time."
"Fair point." Sea Swirl replied. "I liked to get it all done ahead of time so I can avoid the rush."
"That's actually a pretty smart idea." Shoeshine admitted. "Christmas time does get pretty wild around here."
Ruby tugged at her skirts hem and Shoeshine glanced down and smiled. She lifted her and placed her on her lap.
"Anyway." Sea Swirl glanced at Berry and Sunset. "How are you two doing? It's been what, two months since you started dating?"
"Three months yesterday." Sunset answered automatically. Sea Swirl raised an eyebrow at that.
"You've been keeping track?" Berry asked incredulously.
Sunset nodded smugly. "Well, duh. It's an important date."
Berry beamed at her and kissed her.
Shoeshine made a gagging sound. "Yuck. Ow!" She glared at Sea Swirl. "Seriously, what is it with you and hitting me?"
She shrugged and tossed a smirk her way. "Someone has to tell you when you're being stupid and keep you in line. Besides, I find it adorable that Sunset remembered the date exactly."
"Of course you do." Shoeshine grumbled and bounced her knee making Ruby giggle.
Sea Swirl gave her a look. "I know, I'm weird. We are a weird group, if you think about it."
"How do you figure?" Shoeshine grunted.
"Well," Sea Swirl started. "You have me, the hopeless romantic. You, the grumpy underachieving one. Berry, the optimistic one and Sunset the strict one who has a harsh side to those her hurt her friends." Ruby made a noise and pointed. "We can't forget about Ruby, our little mascot and encouragement."
The other three stared at her.
"You put a lot of thought into this, didn't you?" Shoeshine pointed out.
Sea Swirl nodded. "Very much so."
"Well, I for one approve." Berry smiled.
Sunset shifted on her feet and Berry nudged her with her elbow. "I don't know, I've never really had any friends. All I've had is Berry, Cherry and Ruby." She looked at the other two. "I can try though."
Sea Swirl smiled. "I'd like that."
"As much as I hate to agree with the romantic one here, I do." Shoeshine admitted.
Berry beamed at the three.
"Remember, the Fall Formal is two months away. You can vote between Lyra Heartstrings, Lavender Lace and Diamond Tiara." Principal Celestia announced.
The students gave half hearted claps.
"Who are you gonna vote for?" Sea Swirl asked Shoeshine.
She shrugged. "I wasn't gonna vote this year. I only did last year because you were up for Princess."
Sea Swirl smirked and gave her a nudge. "See, you do have a soft side."
"Shut up, Sea Swirl."
Sea Swirl looked around the gymnasium and gave a frown.
"Doesn't seem to be the same energy when she announced it like last year." Sea Swirl commented.
"It does seem dead around here." Shoeshine agreed. "I heard Sunset went on the rampage recently with the music groups and the gardening groups."
"What the hell? Do you know why?" Sea Swirl asked.
Shoeshine shrugged and focused on Principal Celestia on the stage talking.
"Hell if I know. Something about revenge for something." She answered.
"Huh. Strange. She did seem very angry about how the those three treated Berry. She's probably laying waste to the school because of what happened." Sea Swirl mused.
Shoeshine gave a snort. "I support her, all the way. Setting an example will ensure no one else dares fuck with Berry."
Sea Swirl frowned slightly at her. "I suppose."
"Have you forgotten? Me and you were ostracized just for being her friend our freshmen year just because she had a kid and a mild drinking problem after Neon Lights ditched her. The other students fucked us over too." Shoeshine pointed out. "Loyalty is important. Being loyal to Berry because she's our friend. And so is Sunset."
"You're right." A determined look came into Sea Swirl's eyes. "I support her too."
"We still are ostracized." Shoeshine mumbled. "At least the other two of our group talk to us. And Sunset guarantees our safety, remember."
Sea Swirl slammed her fist together. "You're right. We got punished just for offering Berry friendship." She stared at Shoeshine. "When did you get so good at speeches?"
Shoeshine gave a smug grin and a shrug. "I've been practicing."
"Hey guys." Berry greeted them as her and Sunset slid down next to them.
Sea Swirl and Shoeshine each gave Sunset a nod of respect.
"Did we miss anything? We got uh caught up." Berry said blushing.
Shoeshine smirked. "Is that what we call makeout sessions now?" She braced for the inevitable hit from Sea Swirl. To her surprise, it never came.
She glanced over at Sea Swirl who was snickering.
"Why didn't you hit me?" She demanded.
Sea Swirl rolled her eyes. "Because it was funny. I don't always hit you."
Shoeshine shrugged. "Fair point. Anyway, they announced the candidates for the fall formal princess."
Berry raised an eyebrow. "Who is it this year?"
"Lyra, Lavender and Diamond Tiara." Shoeshine answered.
Sunset gave a soft growl.
"Of course Diamond Tiara would run." Berry rolled her eyes. "She and Silver Spoon are so stuck up. Their moms are just as bad at encouraging their behavior."
"Facts." Sea Swirl agreed.
Shoeshine stared at her.
"Didn't you come from a family of money?" She asked.
Sea Swirl shrugged. "A tad bit. But I don't flaunt it or show off or be stuck up."
"I like how none of us are listening to Principal Celestia at all." Berry pointed out.
Shoeshine rolled her eyes. "Because it's the exact same speech from last year. She asked me to sort her office last year when I was her student assistant and saw a copy of it on her desk."
"Wow, that's...." Sunset struggled to find her words.
"Lazy?" Shoeshine offered. "Yeah it is."
"You are all dismissed to go home." Principal Celestia announced.
"Thank fuck." Shoeshine grumbled.
A rainbow blur shot towards the door.
"Rainbow Dash!" Vice Principal Luna scolded. "Walk, not run!"
Rainbow slowed to a walk, grumbling. "I hate walking."
"We should go home. Cherry wants our homework done early today." Berry reminded Sunset.
Sunset nodded and stepped to Shoeshine and Sea Swirl.
Hesitantly, she gave the two a hug and they grinned, returning it.
Berry slammed her head against the desk. Sunset glanced over as she continued writing.
"You okay over there, Ber?" Sunset asked worriedly.
Berry shook her head. "I hate homework." Her shoulders slumped. "I'm stupid."
Sunset got up. "You are not stupid." She said sternly. Sunset kissed Berry's cheek.
"Want help?" Sunset offered.
Berry gave her a grin. "You could always do it for me."
Sunset smirked and shook her head. " I told ya, me doing it for you doesn't count as you actually learning it."
Berry sighed. "However could I make it up to you?" She propped a finger against her chin in thought and smirked. She kissed Sunset's mouth and swirled her tongue around Sunset's. After a few moments, she pulled away leaving Sunset gasping.
Berry looked at her and smirked. "Is that good enough payment?" Sunset nodded.
Sunset picked up Berry's pencil and began writing. Berry flopped onto her bed and idly began messing with the Transformer on her nightstand.
A knock on the door distracted her and she hopped off the bed and set the Transformer back where got it.
"I have cookies and milk." Cherry sang as she entered the room.
Sunset glanced and grinned. "You honestly make the best cookies."
Cherry smirked. "Why thank you, dear Sunset."
Berry rolled her eyes and snatched one off the plate. She bit off an edge piece and chewed.
"I can bake perfectly good cookies too, you know?" She said with a mouthful of cookie.
"Of course. I know that." Sunset said, giving her a confused look.
"Then why does she make better cookies than me?" Berry folded her arms.
"She never said that." Cherry pointed out and Berry glared at her.
"She didn't not say it either." Berry retorted.
"I'm not sure that was proper English, Berry." Cherry rubbed the back of her head. "Maybe you two need some time alone."
Berry shook her head. "I'm gonna take a shower." She shoved past her sister and into the bathroom.
"What the hell was that about?" Cherry asked out loud.
"Your guess is as good as mine." Sunset shrugged, as she went back to Berry's homework.
Berry sighed as she felt the warm water rush over her as she rubbed her shampoo into her hair. One thing she prided herself one was her hair and keeping it in pristine shape at all times.
She moved her hand to her thigh and began washing it with a wash cloth. She closed her eyes and began imaging it was Sunset's hand working down her thigh and between her legs. She opened her eyes and shook her head, clamping her legs shut in an attempt to ignore the growing heat between her legs.
"We've been dating for months and we haven't even done anything sexual yet." She mumbled to herself as she continued to wash herself off.
"If I want something to happen, I'm gonna have to make the first move. I've never had sex with a female before so I was hoping she would make the first move." Berry continued mumbling to the shampoo bottle. "Hell, Sunset is the first female I ever saw as attractive." She looked up at the shampoo bottle and sighed. "I'm talking to a shampoo bottle, I'm going insane."
She shut the water off and stepped out and let the water drip onto the towel under her feet till she grabbed another one and dried herself off. Reaching for the sink countertop, she grabbed her pajamas and pulled them on. She put some toothpaste on her brush and started brushing. She spit out the foamy after effect and poured a cup of mouth wash and drank it, swishing around her mouth before spitting it out.
She sighed as she opened the door and headed to her shared room with Sunset. Opening the bedroom door, she saw Sunset asleep on their bed, with the covers opened on one end waiting for Berry. She smiled as she approached and slid into bed behind Sunset, kissing her neck as she did so. She gently wrapped an arm around her and sighed contently as she pulled the covers over them both.
"I got to stay after real quick and talk to Cheerilee about some homework." Susnet told Berry. "Will you be okay to go to your locker alone?"
Berry nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Thanks though." She squeezed Sunset's hand and smiled, heading for her locker. She put the combination in and pulled her backpack put and started filling it with her books. She opened her phone and snickered at a explicit meme Shoeshine had sent her. She shut her locker and three shadows fell over her.
"Well, your guardian isn't here is she?" Hoops snickered.
"Damn shame." Score agreed as he glared at Berry.
"Did you find your dad yet or is he dead from an overdose?" Dumbdell taunted.
"Shut up." Berry murmured.
"Better yet, did you get your baby's dad back in your life?" He continued.
"Shut up!" Berry screamed. The three stepped back for a moment. A small crowd gathered at this point and Berry could see Shoeshine and Sea Swirl pushing their way through to get to her.
"Hey!" Sunset shouted as she shoved Mystery Mint face first into the carpet and stepped over her.
Score turned around and scoffed. "Oh great you're he- gurk." He didn't get to finish his sentence. Sunset swung her fist and punched him in the throat. He took a step back and she punched him again in the cheek. She stepped in front of him. "I warned you what would happen. " She pulled her foot back and kicked him between his legs. He gave a cry and collapsed on the ground, holding his crotch.
"Do you two want a go?" She taunted.
Hoops looked at Dumbbell and shrugged. He stepped forward and threw a lazy punch. Sunset easily sidestepped it and punched him in the ribs. He gave a loud gasp and Sunset gave him a quick kick in the stomach.
She turned to Dumbdell and staggered back as she got punched in the side. Dumbdell was gonna be harder to take down, he was the strongest of the three.
She stepped forward and as he swung she quickly dodged and punched him in the nose with one fist and the stomach with the other. He retaliated and kicked her knee. She stumbled back before tackling him, causing him to hit his head on a locker. She quickly took advantage of his dazed state and sat down on him.
To her disgust, she felt something pressing against her thigh.
"This is seriously turning you on?" She scoffed as she grabbed his head in her hands. "Well, hopefully this will help." She slammed his head into the locker he was resting against.
"That's my locker!" Watermelody cried out.
Sunset slammed his head a few times into it before standing up. Shoeshine and Sea Swirl had finally got up to her.
"Dude, holy shit." Shoeshine panted as she nudged Hoops with her boot and he responded with a groan.
Sea Swirl grabbed Sunset's shoulders and spun her to Berry.
Berry had slid down at a locker and was shaking. When she realized it was over, she shot up and took off running.
Sea Swirl gave Sunset a gentle push in the direction Berry went.
"Go. Take care of Berry, we will clean up here. Come to Shoeshine's place tomorrow." She said as she turned around. "She will text you the address."
Sunset nodded and ran to the exit.
"Berry, wait!"
Berry darted around the corner and Sunset chased her to the apartment.
Panting, Sunset opened the front door.
"Sunset." Cherry's voice came from the kitchen. "What happened with Berry?" Cherry emerged from the kitchen and crossed her arms.
Sunset sighed and plopped down on the couch. "Some people were harassing her and I kinda fought them."
Cherry raised an eyebrow. "And are you okay?"
Sunset nodded. "Took a few hits, but I'll be fine. I'm more worried about Berry. She was there and saw the whole thing."
Cherry sighed and sat down next to her. "And she came running home having a panic attack."
Sunset slid down further into the couch. "I'm like the worst person ever."
"No. You're not. You stood up for her so that proves you're the opposite of worst person ever." Cherry said adamantly. She stood up. "Anyway, me and Ruby are leaving now. We have a sleep over at Derpy's."
Sunset tilted her head in confusion. "Why?"
Cherry sighed. "Because Berry didn't want us to hear you two potentially yelling over what happened."
Sunset paled. "I've never seen Berry mad before."
"Neither have I. Not something I want to see anytime soon." Cherry admitted. She scooped Ruby up and grabbed her keys. "Good luck, Sunset. Don't destroy the place if two argue." She opened the door and quickly left the apartment.
Sunset sighed and walked up the stairs and nervously knocked on the door.
"Berry? Can I come in?" She hesitantly asked. The door opened and Berry stood on the other side.
"Yes. Come in." She ushered Sunset in and shut the door, locking it. She turned around and faced Sunset.
"Berry I'm-." Sunset began but was cut off.
Berry kissed her and pushed Sunset onto the bed. Sunset's eyes widened as she sighed. She felt Berry's tongue pressing against her lips and she opened her mouth slightly. She kissed Berry back and wrapped an arm around her. Berry moaned softly in the kiss as Sunset pushed her tongue into Berry's mouth.
Berry pulled back and sighed. She looked down at Sunset. She put her hands on the bottom of her shirt and took it off.
"Berry? What are you doing?" Berry placed a finger on Sunset's mouth.
"Shush." Berry gave her a quick kiss. Sunset nodded as she felt Berry start to pull Sunset's shirt off and tossed it aside on the ground. Sunset shivered as she felt the cold air hit her exposed skin.
Berry kissed Sunset's neck and bit down gently. Sunset bit her lip to keep the moan from escaping her mouth. Berry slid a hand down and unzipped Sunset's skirt and Sunset kicked it off. Berry smirked as she looked up at Sunset. Berry kissed her again as she slid a hand down Sunset's thigh. Sunset kissed her back and gently pulled her hair, pulling her on top of her.
Sunset gave a whimper as she felt Berry's hand slide between her legs and gently rub her.
"Does it uhm feel good?" Berry asked shyly and Sunset nodded.
"Mhm." She bit her lip again and felt blood in her mouth. She arched her back and gave a loud yelp as she felt Berry slide a finger inside her.
"I'm sorry if I hurt you." Berry mumbled.
Sunset grabbed her other hand and looked up at her. "Don't stop." Berry smirked and started moving her finger in and out of Sunset.
Sunset moaned loudly as Berry leaned down and kissed her again. Her eyes shot open as she felt Berry slid a second finger in her.
"You like that?" Berry whispered huskily in her ear and Sunset nodded rapidly.
Berry sped up and Sunset grabbed her shoulder.
"B- Berry, I'm close." She whimpered out as she felt Berry fingering her faster. She shoved a pillow over her face and gave a loud yelp as she arched her back. Berry smirked as she felt Sunset tighten around her fingers and her hand get covered in sticky liquid. She pulled her fingers out and removed the pillow Sunset had placed over her face.
Sunset smirked at her. "Your turn." Berry yelped as she felt Sunset roll her off and pinned her down. She kissed Berry's neck as she unzipped Berry's skirt and tossed it down onto the floor. She kissed Berry's throat before moving down and kissed her chest.
Berry gave a loud moan and grabbed Sunset's hair. Sunset smirked up at her as she slowly pulled Berry's underwear off and leaned back.
Berry pressed her legs together shyly and felt Sunset kiss her again.
"You are a beautiful woman, Berry. You don't have to be afraid of showing yourself." Sunset reassured her.
Berry looked up at her with half lidded eyes and nodded. She spread her legs slowly and turned a bright shade of red. She watched Sunset lick her lips and kissed down her stomach and felt breathing between her legs.
She gave a loud yelp as Sunset gave her a soft lick. Sunset reached up with a hand and touched her chest as she continued licking Berry.
Berry laid there shaking and gave another loud yelp as she felt Sunsets tongue push inside her. Sunset twirled her tongue around and kept licking till she felt Berry get closer to finishing.
Berry grabbed Sunset's shoulders and clenched her fingers into her skin as she tossed her head back and gave a loud whimper. She fell back and laid sighing as Sunset crawled up next to her.
"That... was....amazing." Berry said between pants.
Sunset nodded and kissed her. "Are you still mad at me?"
Berry put a finger on her chest and pushed Sunset back gently and giggled.
"I was never mad at you. I had to get Cherry and Ruby out of the house so I could repay you. Besides, I've wanted this for a while now so perfect excuse." She explained while Sunset gave a sigh of relief.
She rolled over on her side and Sunset wrapped an arm around her.
"I'm gonna make you a princess, I promise. Me and you, we will rule the entire school. With Shoeshine and Sea Swirl. I'll do whatever it takes." Sunset promised her.
"I'd like that." Berry mumbled sleepily. She gave a content sigh.
Sunset laid there thinking and holding Berry when she heard Berry's soft breathing and snoring she'd gotten used to. Smiling, she kissed the back of her head and fell asleep.
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Berry arched her back and gave a scream as she pulled Sunset's hair. Sunset crawled out from between her legs and laid her head on the pillow next to her. She reached up and took the gag out of Berry's mouth who instantly started panting.
"I needed that. Thanks, Sunshim." Berry gave her a kiss and ignored the taste of herself on Sunset's lips. Most people might be turned off by that, but Berry secretly enjoyed it and Sunset knew that just enough to take advantage of it.
"I did tell you I'd fuck you six ways till Sunday for how you helped me steal the crown so." Sunset said smirking. "And your amazing distraction skills with Celestia."
Berry rolled over and faced her.
"So what now?" she questioned.
The door opened and Cherry walked in.
"Berry? Are you okay I heard screaming and-." Her words trailed off as she took in the sight in front of her.
She turned bright red and slowly walked backwards, running into the wall before correcting and walking out the door.
"I'll leave you two alone." Cherry stammered as she shut the door.
The two looked at each and laughed.
"I forgot she was here honestly." Berry mumbled, bright faced.
"Me too." Sunset admitted sheepishly.
"Hopefully we can fix the issue between Sea Swirl and Shoeshine." Berry said hopefully, still in the afterglow.
"They seemed pretty angry with each other." Sunset admitted. "What is with Shoeshine and her getting angry when someone insults pitbulls?"
"Well she's always loved them and called them cute. Which they are adorable animals. She volunteers everyday when she isn't busy at the pitbull acceptance animal shelter. The one she adopted was killed for being a pitbull by a neighbor so it's a sore spot." Berry explained. "A very sore spot. She goes off on anyone about it." She added after a pause.
"And Sea Swirl doesn't know?" Sunset pressed.
Berry shook her head.
"Not at all." Berry said.
Sunset frowned.
"I have an idea on how to fix this." She said confidently.
Berry nodded as she flipped Sunset on her back and laid on top of her.
"Your turn." Berry grinned up at her.
"We need to find out where that damned crown went and who found it." Sunset stated, pacing the room.
Shoeshine nodded leaning back in her chain with her boots kicked up on the desk, Sea Swirl sat on the ground playing with her shoelaces and Berry sat on a table drinking a pop.
"Sunset, could you tell Sea Swirl I'll look into who took the crown please?" Shoeshine asked, ignoring the girl on the floor.
Berry groaned quietly. The two had been doing that since the argument and ignoring each other and asking Berry and Sunset to relay messages instead of telling the person directly.
Sunset rolled her eyes but obliged.
"Sea Swirl, Shoeshine is gonna find out who found the crown." Sunset grumbled.
Sea Swirl nodded.
"Thanks Sunset. At least you and Berry are good friends." She said coldly.
A low growling sound came from Shoeshine's throat as she started playing on her phone.
"Let's not argue right now, we got work to do." Sunset immediately dispelled the negativity to get the two to focus.
"Fine. What should I do?" Sea Swirl asked.
Sunset thought for a moment and pressed a finger to her chin.
"You're good at spying, you check the social media's. Maybe someone took a picture that day of the statue. If we get lucky, we might be able to get a picture of the person with the statue." Sunset stated. "Octavia likes to post pictures of the statue on her way out of school, try her Facebook first please."
Sea Swirl nodded. "It will be done."
She pulled out her phone and started searching.
"What can I do?" Berry eagerly asked.
"Well, what would you like to do?" Sunset asked.
"Well Shoeshine is good at intimidation, Sea Swirl is good at espionage, you're good at leadership and aggression. What am I good at?" Berry mumbled.
Sunset frowned and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Optimism." Sunset said finally. "You keep us going. Without your beautiful, fun loving personality, we'd be over before we began. Everything we do is get revenge for how you got treated and for all of us to be at the top. Especially you."
Sunset gave her a quick kiss, which Berry was happy to return.
"I guess I do get pretty excited." Berry admitted.
"And you're really good at cooking and baking." Shoeshine piped in. "Plus we were friends way before this, so I can already tell you that you're important to me. You and Sunset are my closest friends."
Sea Swirl gave a wince at that and tried to hide it with a smile.
"Yeah, what she said." Sea Swirl said in a pained tone.
Berry shot her a sad look and mouthed the words "I'll talk to her."
Sunset clapped her hands.
"Group meeting adjourned. We have our tasks. I need to find Snips and Snails. After I go get us milkshakes with Berry." Sunset said.
Shoeshine and Sea Swirl nodded as they each got up. Shoeshine quickly ran out the door to avoid Sea Swirl. Sea Swirl hung her head down as she exited the room and gave a long sigh.
"Sea Swirl?" Sunset called out and Sea Swirl slowly faced her.
"Yeah?" Sea Swirl asked in a forced happy tone.
"She will come around, I promise." Sunset promise, flashing her a smile.
Sea Swirl gave her a sad smile in return.
"I hope so." She mumbled and continued walking out the room.
----------------------------------------------‐--------------
"Are you sure you saw nothing?" Shoeshine demanded as she approached Starlight.
"I saw nothing." Starlight shook her head nervously.
"Are you sure about this? Your picture you posted placed you at the school when Sunset's crown went missing." Shoeshine pointed out.
"It's not really her crown." Starlight mumbled.
Shoeshine glared at her and slammed her hand on the locker, making the girl jump.
"What was that?" She demanded.
"Nothing. I went the other way thirty minutes after. When it went missing, I was with Velvet Sky." Starlight mumbled. "We were picking up gardening supplies for our gardens back home."
"I hope you're telling the truth, for your sake." Shoeshine snapped. Her phone dinged and she pulled it out and opened her messages.
Sunset: Go see Roseluck. She's at lunch right now and has information.
Shoeshine: You got it.
Shoeshine scowled at the other girl.
"Get the hell outta here." She ordered and the other girl took off running down the hall. Shoeshine gave a smirk as she started heading to the lunchroom. She quickly spotted Rose, Daisy, Lily and Micro Chips at a lunch table.
"Oh boy, here comes Shoeshine." Lily grumbled as she rolled her eyes.
Daisy stopped with her sandwich halfway to her mouth. "What's wrong with Shoeshine?" She asked before taking a bit.
Lily rolled her eyes again.
"She's one of Sunset's soldiers, remember. The intimidating one." Lily pointed out.
Daisy stared at her confused.
"We're in highschool, not the army. How can she be a soldier?" Daisy reminded her.
Lily groaned. "Some gangs call their members street soldiers or just soldiers."
"How on earth do you know this? Are you in a gang and didn't tell us?" Daisy asked nervously.
Lily raised an eyebrow. "No, I'm not in a gang. I just watch lots of documentaries on them." She glanced at Micro Chips who sat there silently.
"Hell, if Lily was in a gang and not such a jerk, we'd take her in a instant." Shoeshine coughed to get their attention. She glared at Micro Chips. "Get the hell out of here so I can talk to the Flower Power Girls."
Micro Chips frowned at her. "I was here first."
Shoeshine glowered at him and grabbed him by his collar, yanking him back and onto the floor. She picked up his lunch tray and dumped the contents on him. He stared up at her before getting up and walking off to the bathroom. Daisy gawked at her as Shoeshine smirked and sat down.
"Now that he's been taken care of, where were we?" She focused on Roseluck. "That's right, we need to have a conversation. Sunset sent me."
Lily looked between her sister and Shoeshine.
"Absolutely not." She declared and Daisy nodded her agreement.
Shoeshine rolled her eyes and waved a hand.
"Please, I'm not gonna hurt her. Sunset said she's off limits. You two are as well, but I'm sure I can convince Sunset to change her mind about you two." She said with a threatening undertone as she pulled her phone out.
Rose held up a hand and smiled at Shoeshine.
"That won't be necessary." She reassured her. "Let's go by the vending machine, it's nice and quiet there. I'll be right back, girls." She told her sisters.
"What does Micro Chips even do when he sits here?" Shoeshine asked.
"Why do you care?" Lily shot back.
"Curiosity." Shoeshine shrugged.
"Literally just sits there and eats quietly and reads a book till the bell rings. Never says a word to any of us. Me and Rose tried to talk to him but no luck. Today's the first day we heard him speak." Daisy admitted.
"I thought he was a mute at first." Rose said.
"Huh, what a nerd." Shoeshine mumbled.
Lily slammed her hands down on the table.
"Be nice to him. He's a very nice person." Lily snapped.
Shoeshine raised a brow and smirked.
"Someone's got a crush." She teased. "How lame." She sneered.
Lily looked like she was about to explode from how red her face was.
"I don't have a crush on Micro Chips." She finally snapped.
Shoeshine stared at her.
"If you say so. Anyway, let's go talk." Shoeshine turned the Rose. The pair walked to the vending machine and stood in the dark shadow. Shoeshine folded her arms as Roseluck pulled her phone out.
"Well? What is it you have?" Shoeshine asked, tapping her foot.
"I saw the wildest shit last night. I was chasing after the dog I was puppysitting when I saw a crown come flying out the statue. First I thought I was half asleep till I saw it hit this girl in the head and she took inside to Principal Celestia." Rose explained. "I got it on video too."
She rotated her phone to face Shoeshine and pressed play. The video showed Rose calling out the dogs name and checking bushes till she got to the statue. Then it showed a girl standing in front of it suddenly sit down and get hit in the back of the head with the crown and take it inside the school. Shoeshine's eyes widened slightly and then narrowed.
"Send me that." Shoeshine took her phone out and handed it to Rose. "Put your number in." Rose quickly nodded and did so, hitting send on her phone till Shoeshine's gave a ding. Rose quickly handed it back. Shoeshine gave a quick gruff nod.
"Thanks. I'll walk you back to your sister's." Shoeshine announced. The two walked back where Daisy and Lily had been watching the two the entire time. Shoeshine and Rose quickly sat down.
A tapping on Shoeshine's shoulder got her attention and she spun around and gave a sigh.
"Snips, Snails. Aren't you supposed to be following Velvet Sky and finding dirt for us to use against you." Shoeshine questioned while Daisy and Lily shifted in their seats.
"Well yeah but we found something better." Snails began.
"Something really good." Snips added. He showed Shoeshine his phone and pressed play. Loud moans instantly came from his phone and Shoeshine's eyes widened. Lily looked at the three and raised an eyebrow.
"Are you guys really watching porn during lunch?" She asked rolling her eyes.
"How did you get a video of Scribble Dee and Norman having sex?" Shoeshine demanded in awe.
"Luck." Snips admitted. "Right place, right time."
"What did Sunset say about it?" Shoeshine asked.
"To ask you what to do. She wants to use it. Sea Swirl is against it and says we should save it for later." Snails piped in. The two looked at her curiously. Shoeshine took a deep breath.
"I can't believe I'm gonna agree with that bitch, but save it. Post a ten second clip of it at most but not the full thing." Shoeshine ordered. The two boys gave her a salute and sped out the lunchroom. Shoeshine turned around and saw a shocked look on Daisy's face and a disgusted one on Lily while Rose had no expression. Shoeshine glanced at Rose.
"Do you got the flower's? Sunset wants me to pick them up while I'm here." Shoeshine requested. Rose gave a quick nod and a smile and reached into her bag. She pulled out a bouquet of purple and red roses and handed it to Shoeshine. She took it and gave her a grateful nod. She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out sixty dollars. She slid it to Rose who stared at it.
"For your help and good work." Shoeshine explained. "There's twenty there for each of you."
Rose reached out and took it nervously as Shoeshine pushed her chair out and stood up.
"Thank you." She looked up at Shoeshine and gave her a grateful smile. "We really could use it." Lily shot her a dirty look while Daisy nodded slowly.
"Thanks Shoeshine." Daisy mumbled.
Shoeshine nodded and stopped before glancing at Daisy.
"Oh and Daisy?"
The girl looked up.
"Yeah?"
"Cute pitbull you got as your background." Shoeshine continued walking. Daisy and Lily stared after her in surprise at her genuine compliment.
"That was surprising." Lily mumbled as
"Oh, I'm really sorry, I just found it and thought I should give it to her. I didn't know you had dropped it." Fluttershy mumbled.
"Well I did and I was about to get it before you swooped in and ruined everything. You shouldn't pick up things that don't belong to you." Sunset snapped.
Fluttershy brushed her hair out of her eye. "It doesn't really belong to you either." She mumbled.
Sunset slammed her hand on the locker and made Fluttershy jump.
"Excuse me?" She snapped. Fluttershy started to slump down against the lockers.
"Uhm, nothing." She mumbled.
"That's what I thought. It's as good as mine and you know it. You really are pathetic, it's no wonder all your friends are stray animals." Sunset said coldly, smiling.
"How dare you speak to her that way." A voice came from behind Sunset.
Sunset slowly turned and glared.
"What did you say?" She demanded.
Norman started sliding away from the two along the lockers.
"I said, how dare you speak to her that way." The girl repeated as ahe and Sunset walked to each other. They stared at each other before Sunset smirked.
"You must be new here." She declared as she flicked the girls chin up. "I can speak to anyone any way I want." She strolled down the hallway and stared at Norman before stepping a bit towards him and he shut himself in the locker. She continued her way down the hall.
"I can't believe you did that." Fluttershy mumbled.
"Well, I couldn't just stand there." The other girl answered.
"But it's just nobody ever stands up to Sunset Shimmer." Fluttershy replied.
"Sunset Shimmer?" The other asked as she looked down the hallway as Norman popped out the locker and looked at Blueberry Cake across from him.
"You've heard of her?" Fluttershy asked surprised.
"Sorta." The other girl answered.
"I don't think I've seen you around before, did you just transfer to Canterlot High from another school?" Fluttershy questioned.
"Uhm yes another school. My names Twilight." Twilight smiled at her.
Fluttershy mumbled something.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" Twilight's edged closer. "It sounds like you're saying Fluttershy. How can that-?"
Spike stepped out from behind Twilight and Fluttershy's eyes widened.
"Oh my goodness. Who's this sweet little guy?" Fluttershy rushed up to Spike.
"That's Spike. My uh dog." Twilight stated as she regained her balance.
Fluttershy pulled dog treats out of seemingly no where.
"Oh he's so cute. Go on, eat up little pup." She held out the treats encouragingly. "How do you know what he's thinking?"
"Oh he usually just tells me." Twilight said nonchalantly. Fluttershy turned to her confused while Spike gestured at his throat for Twilight to cut it out.
"What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked as Spike barked a few times to get her attention.
"Oh uh nothing. Nothing." Twilight hastily said. "Sunset Shimmer said you found something. Something that belonged to her. It wasn't a crown, was it?"
"How did you know?" Fluttershy questioned, standing up.
"Uh, lucky guess?" Twilight said, looking away. "Do you still have it?"
Fluttershy shook her head.
"But you know what happened to it." Twilight pressed.
Fluttershy nodded.
"Mhm. This morning, I was passing out flyers for the animal shelter like I do every Wednesday when I got hit in the head with it. I have no idea how it got there. But I didn't want anything to happen to it, so I decided to give it to Principal Celestia."
"Principal Celestia?" Twilight asked confused. "Is she the ruler here?"
Fluttershy stood up. "You could say that. Technically I guess she and Vice Principal Luna do make the rules."
"Where is she now?" Twilight asked.
"Probably in her office." Fluttershy pointed out. Twilight and Spike ran in opposite directions before walking back to Fluttershy.
"Third door on your left." She said helpfully.
"Thank you." Twilight called out as she ran.
"Oh, wait." Fluttershy called out as Twilight stuck her bead back around the corner. "You're not really supposed to have pets on school grounds. Just tuck him into your back pack. It's what I do." She smiled as she unzipped her bag and a bunch of animals stuck their head out and jumped out.
"Oh. Okay, thank you." Twilight said, smiling. The bell rang and Fluttershy jumped.
"Oh no. I'm late for class." She scooped up the animals in one fell swoop and darted down the hall. Twilight turned around and ran into a lilac girl with two toned purple hair.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to." Twilight stammered as she stood up. The lilac girl smiled at her.
"It's all good, I didn't break anything." She reassured Twilight. Twilight gave her a nod and kept running. Sea Swirl gave a grin as she watched her leave. She pressed a button down on her phone.
"....and saved." She said softly as she saved the video of the conversation she overheard to her phone. She texted Sunset to get the group in their normal meeting spot. Her eyes fell on Shoeshine's number and she gave a sigh. She quickly walked to the room and bumped into Shoeshine. Shoeshine snorted and stepped and gestured after you to her.
Sea Swirl sighed sadly.
"How long are you gonna do this, Shoe?" She asked sadly.
Shoeshine locked eyes with her.
"As long as it takes." She replied coldly.
"Can we just stop this? I miss my friend." Sea Swirl pleaded. "Please." She added quietly.
Shoeshine sighed. "You offended me and insulted me. Sure you did it without knowing everything, but it still happened." She maintained eye contact, unwavering.
Sea Swirl found herself wanting to look away from the intense gaze but forced herself to keep staring back. Shoeshine always was good at strong gazes and glares when she wanted to be. It was one of the things that made her very strong and intimidating.
"I'm sorry." She whispered. "I really am, Shoeshine. I can't keep going like this, ignoring each other."
Shoeshine stared for a moment before slowly nodding.
"We can talk again. But don't be rude." Shoeshine stated.
Sea Swirl fought the growing anger.
"You were rude too." She pointed out.
Shoeshine frowned and nodded.
"I was. You're right." She admitted.
Sea Swirl smiled internally, Shoeshine didn't really apologize for her mistakes. Her saying she messed up was her way of saying sorry. Learning how Shoeshine communicated her feelings was a complicated task. Sea Swirl opened her arms and paused. She forgot Shoeshine wasn't that big into public displays of affection or being touched.
Shoeshine stared at her before sighing.
"Fine." She stepped towards Sea Swirl as Sea Swirl tackled her in a hug and wrapped her arms around her.
"This isn't as bad as I anticipated." Shoeshine admitted. Sea Swirl stared at her in confusion.
"You expected hugs to hurt?" She questioned.
"Well yeah. The last hug I got was in middle school from Derpy. I almost died." Shoeshine shrugged.
Sea Swirl grimaced at the memory.
"Okay, fair enough." She sighed. "Guess that works as an explanation."
A cough got their attention and they shifted their attention to behind them. Standing there was a grinning Berry and equally happy Sunset. Berry jumped down and hugged them. Shoeshine grudgingly accepted it.
"As much as I hate to break this moment up, we should get to work." Sunset chuckled after giving them a few moments.
Shoeshine nodded as Berry and Sea Swirl let go and the trio stood up. The three gazed at Sunset, awaiting orders.
"What do we need to do?" Shoeshine jumped right in.
"I want a word with her." Sunset said firmly. "Another one." Sea Swirl nodded.
"Do you want me to set it up or?" She hesitantly asked. Her eyes lit up when Sunset nodded.
"Yes. If you need aggressive negotiations, take Shoeshine." Sunset stated. The two girls nodded. Sunset glanced at Berry.
"Can you find out where the Fall Formal is being hosted?" Sunset requested. Berry eagerly grinned.
"Yes, ma'am." Berry giggled and planted a kiss on her cheek. Shoeshine gave a exaggerated gagging sound and Sea Swirl smirked.
"If Shoeshine is making gagging sounds at you two kissing, every thing is back to normal." She pointed out, still smirking. "Also, it's being held in the gym. Pinkie Pie is setting up for it. She just posted about it ten minutes ago. The country one should be delivering apple cider or something."
"Shut it Sea Swirl." Shoeshine grumbled.
"Text Snips and Snails to meet me at the gym." Sunset quickly got up and left the room. Within moments, she was at the gym. She and the others chosen that room as a constant meeting point due to how close it was to everything. Hearing running, she faced Snips and Snails panting in front of her.
"About time you two got here. We need to check out how things are for my Coronation." Sunset snapped. The three walked in and Sunset took in the decorations.
"This looks terrible." She declared. "There needs to be more streamers near the stage and less balloons." She jammed her finger into a balloon and popped it.
"Yeah! Streamers!" Snips shouted, holding a streamer above his head, trying to rip it in half.
"And more balloons." Snails piped in, squeezing a balloon trying(and failing) to pop it. Sunset gave an internal sigh and rolled her eyes.
"Fizzy apple cider? Eugh, this is my coronation, not a hoe down." Sunset grumbled as she held the bottom in disgust away from her.
"Well now, it ain't necessarily gonna be your coronation this time around." Applejack snapped. She flinched and leaned back as Sunset got in her face.
"Oh, is that so?" She demanded. She rotated Applejacks hat and covered her face with it. "You country folk really aren't all that bright." She patted the hat and walked away from her. "Obviously, it's gonna be my coronation. I'm running unopposed, Lyra and all the others decided they had other obligations that were more important than running."
"Not this time." Pinkie pointed out as she pulled a clipboard out of her hair and pointed to it. "The new girl just signed up." She sang the last part.
"What?" Sunset exclaimed. She snatched the clipboard and read the names.
"I know right? Her hand writing is really bad." Pinkie said. Sunset lowered the clipboard and glared at the two.
"Where is this Twilight Sparkle?" She grumbled. "Uh, I'm looking forward to meeting the competition." Applejack and Pinkie said nothing, just looked at each other.
"You two, make sure these two get my coronation the way I want." Sunset snapped, pointing to Snips and Snails.
"You got it." Snips nodded.
---------------------------------------------------------‐---
Sunset stalked down the hallways, looking for her prey. She caught sight of the girl and smiled. She followed her till she turned and glanced down an area with an opened locker and flickering lights. Just as Sunset hoped, she took the bait and walked into it.
"Can't believe I didn't recognize you earlier." Sunset snapped, making Twilight turn around. "Should've know Princess Celestia would have sent her prized pupil here after my crown." She walked past Twilight, smirking. "And her little dog too." She added.
"It's my crown." Twilight retorted, pointing to herself.
Sunset leaned against and waved a hand.
"Whatever." She taunted. "This is just a minor setback for me. You don't know the first thing about this place and I already rule it."
"If that's so, why do you even need my crown?" Twilight questioned as Sunset continued walking around her. "You went to an awful lot of trouble to switch it with the one that belongs here."
"Pop quiz, what happens when you bring an Element of Harmony into an alternate world?" Sunset questioned as Twilight looked away and rubbed her chin. "You don't know? Seriously? And you're supposed to be Princess Celestia's star student. Then again, what were the chances she'd find somepony as bright as me to take under her wing after I decided to leave Equestria. It's embarrassing you were the best she could do." Spike popped out of the bag and started growling and barking. Sunset recoiled a little but quickly recovered and smirked.
"Oh and I'd keep an eye on your mutt. Hate for him to be taken away from you." Sunset said, continuing her smirk.
Spike shook a paw at her.
"Is that a threat?" He demanded.
"Aww, of course not." Sunset said sarcastically. "But I'd cut down on the chatter if I were you, don't want everyone to know you two don't belong here now would you? You want to be a princess here? Please, you don't know the first thing about fitting in." She stepped around Twilight and walked out of where she had cornered Twilight.
She met Snips and Snails in the hallway, tied up in streamers. She gave an audible groan, grabbed both of them and yanked them free of the streamers.
"I want you two to follow her." She demanded, pointing back in Twilight's direction. "Bring me something i can use like the last girl who thought she could challenge me." They saluted her and nodded.
"You got it, Sunset Shimmer." Snips promised.
Sunset turned around and stood there. She folded her arms and sighed again, closing her eyes.
"When the crowns power is mine, Twilight Sparkle is gonna be sorry she ever set hoof in this world. Not that she was much safer in Equestria." Sunset mused out loud. She was taken out of her musing by confused laughter behind her.
"Yeah, in Equestria." Snips said confused.
"What are you two still doing here?" Sunset demanded. "Go!" She pointed down the hallway. They jumped and smacked into each other before running away.
"What is with people and having random musical numbers in various parts of the school?" Shoeshine grumbled as she watched the other students singing in the cafeteria. She and Sunset turned around to Snips and Snails dancing in hallway behind them.
"Take those off!" Sunset ordered and they hastily took off the tail and ears. Shoeshine grabbed them out of their hands and glared at them, throwing the items in the trashcan next to her.
"Seriously, what the fuck you two?" Shoeshine snapped. "Don't fraternize with the enemy."
Sunset scoffed and nodded.
"I have something I need you three to do. Do you two still have those pictures I asked you to print?" Sunset inquired. Snails quickly nodded.
"Yeah." He showed her them in his backpack and she grinned.
"Follow me." Sunset strode off towards to gym. "I need this gym messed up. Destroy some decorations, break a few tables. Nothing too serious. You guys understand?"
"Absolutely. Cause chaos pretty much." Shoeshine nodded and smirked, her hands on her hips. "We can do that."
"And take pictures of the destruction. We can cut out Twilight from those soccer photos and place her in the spot of one of you destroying stuff." Sunset stated. The three looked at each other and grinned. She left the three to do their work, she had some reading to do. Besides, it's not like Twilight could actually beat her. She ran things around here, her and her group. Forty five minutes later, Shoeshine found her in the library and handed her a file. Inside were the altered photos.
"Good work." Sunset flipped through the photos and her eyebrows raised. "I said cause some chaos, not this much. What the hell?" Shoeshine shrank a bit and rubbed her head.
"We kinda got carried away, I'm sorry." She admitted.
Sunset snorted. "Clearly. Let's go give these to Luna and get Twilight barred permanently from the Fall Formal." The pair quickly reached their destination. They saw the girl they were just talking about and Sunset smirked at her. She knocked on Luna's door and the women opened it.
"Vice Principal Luna, something terrible has happened." Sunset exclaimed.
"Isn't this just awful?" Sunset asked. Her and Luna stood in the gyms entrance, taking in the destruction. Luna's eyes widened in surprise as she stared into the gym.
"And after Pinkie Pie worked so hard to make everything perfect. Why would Twilight Sparkle do something like this?" Sunset continued.
Luna focused on the younger girl in surprise.
"Why would you think Twilight was responsible for something like this?" Luna asked.
"Because I have proof." Sunset explained as she holded a folder out to Luna.
"It's time to show that we got school spirit, raise your voice and let everyone hear it. It's time to show that we're strong."
Shoeshine slammed her head against the supply closest door.
"If I hear one more God damn musical number from those six, I'm going to kill myself." She groaned. Sea Swirl rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, it's pretty annoying but I don't think it's suicide worthy." She pointed out.
"Easy for you to say." Shoeshine shot back.
"Please, can we not start fighting again? We just quit one fight early this week." Sea Swirl grumbled. Shoeshine nodded.
"Okay."
"You three are lucky she was able to pull this off. Next time I ask you to make a mess of things, try to show a little restraint. I need this night to go off just as much as she does." Sunset snapped, giving pointed glares to Snips, Snails and Shoeshine. Snails was tossing a baseball up and down while Snips was sitting in the corner wearing a football helmet. Why the hell he was wearing it, none of the girls knew but they weren't gonna ask. Berry sat playing a game on her phone quietly, legs swinging under the desk.
"So whats the plan?" Shoeshine asked after a few moments of silence. "We heard half the school saying they'll vote for her. Blueberry Cake, Cloudkicker, Raindrops just to name a few."
Sunset pinched the bridge of her nose.
"I know. Give me a minute." She continued rubbing her nose till her eyes lit up.
"Shoeshine, can you get me the sledge hammer from your dad's shed?" She asked.
Shoeshine nodded with a confused expression.
"Yeah, of course. But what for?"
Sunset waved a hand.
"Extra measures." She explained. "Leave it by the portal, please." She pointed at Snips and Snails.
"You two, steal her dog when she gets distracted. Bring him to the statue. Shoeshine, Sea Swirl and Berry, enjoy your night inside. We got this. You three deserved it and earned a break." Sunset smiled. "Have fun."
"Absolutely not." Sea Swirl stood up and exclaimed. "We're helping you." Shoeshine and Berry nodded their agreement.
"We've started this together, we're ending this together." Berry stated firmly. Sunset shook her head to their frustration.
"Trust me, it'll be fine. Enjoy the party. We will be inside after we get done. No problems." Sunset promised.
Shoeshine glared at her. "Fine, but if shit goes south, you come and get us or text us, no exceptions."
Sunset rolled her eyes.
"If I get the chance, I will." She promised again.
"Good." Shoeshine allowed a small smile on her face. Sunset smirked as she peered out the door into the gym, watching Twilight with the others.
Berry sat in a chair, watching the other students dancing as she sipped a cup of punch. Shoeshine sat next to her, observing Twilight. Sea Swirl handed her a cup and she gratefully took it and sipped, making a face.
"This is strong." She admitted before taking another sip.
"Anybody see Sunset Shimmer?" Twilight asked her group.
"Maybe she was too embarrassed to show." Rainbow suggested. "She has to know you've won by a landslide." Shoeshine let out a soft growl as she heard this and a Sea Swirl placed a hand on her shoulder, making her sit back.
"There'll be time for that later." She whispered.
"Maybe." Twilight replied to Rainbow, unconvinced. The music died down as Celestia and Luna took the stage.
"First off, I'd like to say how wonderful everything looks tonight. You all did a magnificent job pulling things together after the unfortunate events of earlier." Celestia announced.
Shoeshine gave a soft snicker at that, earning her a glare from Lily. Roseluck rolled her eyes at her sister and shot Shoeshine a smile. Daisy quickly looked away after smiling at Shoeshine.
"And now, without further ado, I'd like to announce the winner of this year's Fall Formal." Celestia continued as Luna approached her with a box and slip of paper. "The winner of this year's Fall Formal is Twilight Sparkle." Shoeshine groaned in frustration and Sea Swirl shot the students a dirty look as Berry gave one the middle finger. Twilight stepped onto the stage and Celestia placed the crown on her head. The doors opened and Sea Swirl noticed Snips and Snails enter the gym, wearing their over their top hats in her opinion.
"Looks like Snips and Snails are executing their part of the plan." She pointed out.
"Excellent." Shoeshine smirked.
"Congratulates Twilight, you earned it." Celestia smiled down at her.
"Twilight! Help!" A voice called out. Snips held a growling dog in his arms who pushing his face with a paw. Snails gave the dog a punch and shoved him into Snips arms again and ran out the room.
"They got Spike!" Twilight shouted as she jumped off the stage and gave chase. She slammed into a locker and glanced up at the others following her out. She jumped over Trixie at the vending machine and followed the pair to the portal.
Sunset stepped out from behind the portal, holding the sledge hammer Shoeshine had placed against it earlier in the night above her head.
"That's close enough." She ordered as Twilight and the others slid to a stop.
"Twilight." Spike snapped before Snails grabbed his muzzle and held it shut.
"Don't hurt him." Twilight demanded.
Sunset smirked.
"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it. I'm not a monster, Twilight. Let him go." She ordered the two boys. They stared at her before releasing him. Twilight fell to her knees as Spike jumped up and hugged her.
"You don't belong here. Give me the crown and you can go home to Equestria tonight. Or keep it and never go home." Sunset threatened. Twilight stared at her for a moment.
"Tick tock Twilight. Don't got all night." Sunset taunted. "Portal will be closing on it's own in less than an hour. So what's your answer?"
Twilight stood up.
"No." She firmly said.
"What?" Sunset's eyes widened. "Equestria! Your friends! Lost to you forever! Don't you see what I'm about to do to the portal?"
"Yes. But I've also seen what you've been able to do here without magic. Equestria will find a way to survive without my Element of Harmony, this place might not if I allow it to fall into your hands. So go ahead, destroy the portal. You are not getting this crown." Twilight put the crown back on her head.
"Fine, you win." Sunset announced as she let the sledge hammer fall to the ground with a thud.
"You are so awesome." Rainbow squeaked out.
"Gee Twilight. Ah can't be ya do that for us." Applejack said.
"It's no wonder you're a real life princess." Rarity fawned over her. Sunset clenched her fists together.
"Oh yes. She's so very special." She snapped. She jumped towards Twilight and tackled her to the ground, the crown rolling away. Sunset climbed over her and reached for the crown as Twilight grabbed her leg. Spike jumped on Sunset's head and grabbed the crown in his mouth, running away.
"Get him, you fools!" Sunset snapped at Snips and Snails who started to chase Spike. Sunset started running and pushed her two lackeys out of her way. She chased Spike up the stairs of the school. She quickly cornered him and reached out for him.
"Spike! Spike!" Rainbow shouted, waving her hands. Spike threw the crown out of his mouth as it sailed through the sky. Rainbow jumped up and caught it as Snips rushed her and he grabbed the crown. The two yanked back and forth on it till she pushed him aside. Snails snuck up on her and she slammed her hand in his face, keeping him back.
"Fluttershy!" Rainbow called and tossed the crown to her. She gave a meep sound as it hit her. She caught it and her eyes widened as she saw Sunset and her two allies running to her. Applejack grabbed some roop and tossed it around Fluttershy, yanking her out of the way and the crown flew out her hands. Snips caught it mid air and held it up. Pinkie grabbed it put his hands and tossed it to Applejack. Applejack quickly handed it to Rarity and she threw it to Twilight. She blindly threw it over her back as Snips and Snails grabbed her.
Sunset caught it.
"Finally! I'll take that." She gloated. "At last, more power than I could ever imagine." She placed the crown on her head as it started to glow. A blue light enveloped her as Sunset grabbed at it. Rainbow looked away from the bright light as Sunset was lifted into the sky. The doors opened and Norman stared at the sky. Sunset's eyes shot open as the crown transformed her into a devil looking creature. She raised her hands and blasted Snips and Snails with magic and watched as they transformed.
"This is gonna be so cool." Snips snickered.
Rainbow spun around and raised her fists. She slowly started backing away with the others. Sunset heard screaming and spun to the entrance of the school.
"I had to jump through so many hoops tonight to get this crown when it really should have been mine all along." She snarled. "But let's let bygones be bygones. I am your princess now! And you will be loyal to me!" She clenched her fist and threw aside the entrance of the school. Sunset flew into the school as she noticed some students trying to leave. She pressed her fingers to her head and the students faced her, eyes glowing green.
"Round them up and bring them to the portal." Sunset ordered. She faced Twilight.
"Spoiler alert, I was lying when I said I'd destroy the portal. I don't want to rule this pathetic little high school. I want Equestria. And with my own teenage army, I'm going to get it." She snapped.
"No, you're not." Twilight retorted.
"Oh, please. What exactly are you gonna do to stop me?" Sunset shot back. "I have magic and you have nothing!"
"She has us." Rainbow snapped as she stepped forward with the others.
Sunset gave a laugh and wiped a tear out of her eye.
"Gee, the gangs really is all back together again. Now step aside, Twilight has tried to interfere with my plans one too many times already. Shoeshine, Sea Swirl grab her!" She turned around confused at no response. She froze when she saw the girls in question wandering among the students, their eyes matching the others. Her blood ran cold when she saw who was next to them.
"Berry?" She whispered. Twilight saw an opportunity and looked to Rainbow Dash.
"This our chance, quick." She shouted as a ball of magic launched at her. The girls instinctively hugged her and a shield formed around them.
"This isn't ya Sunset." Applejack pleaded. "Look around ya, sugarcube."
"The magic in my Element was able to unite with those who created it. Together with the crown they create a power beyond anything you could imagine, for it is a power you don't the ability to control. The crown may be upon your head, Sunset Shimmer, but you cannot wield it. Because you don't possess the most powerful magic of all, the power of friendship." Twilight announced. A rainbow launched out of the six and slammed into Sunset. The girls looked away from the bright and slowly lowered to the ground. Twilight glanced at the crater and stood at the edge, staring down at Sunset.
"You will never rule in Equestria. Any power you may have had here is lost forever. Tonight, you showed everyone who you really are." Twilight announced. Sunset lifted her head and stared at her.
"I'm so sorry. We needed to get back at them." She pointed a finger at the students. "All of them."
"But why?" Lyra asked. "I never even knew you."
Before Sunset could reply, she heard her name being called.
"Sunset!" Berry pushed her way through the crowd and slid into the crater. She jumped on Sunset and hugged her.
"I was so scared." She whimpered. Sunset quickly rubbed her head and hugged her back.
"I know. I didn't mean to mind control you, Shoeshine or Sea Swirl. Just the other students and staff. I'm sorry." Sunset sighed.
"I wasn't scared for me, I was scated for you. It looked painful." Berry mumbled as Shoeshine and Sea Swirl slid into the crater too and knelt down next to her.
"It's okay Sunset." Sea Swirl coaxed.
"We can regather and figure out a new way to punish everyone else here. It's what they deserve, they don't deserve free will." Shoeshine snarled as she glared up at a Twilight. Twilight held a hand down to Sunset. She crawled out of the crater and slumped onto her stomach. Sea Swirl, Shoeshine and Berry joined her.
"Alright back inside everyone. Now." Luna ordered. She held out a brick trovel. "You will rebuild the entrance, Sunset Shimmer lucky you aren't arrested."
She had her face filled with the face of a light blue girl.
"If she's getting punished, we are too." Shoeshine snapped. Luna raised an eyebrow but nodded. Sunset and the others walked to the entrance and started working.
"Who is that?" Twilight asked, pointing to Berry.
"Ah ain't sure. She's been hanging out with Sunset this whole year. " Applejack admitted.
"I'm gonna talk to her." Twilight announced as she walked to them.
"Can I speak to you?" She asked Berry who instantly looked nervous.
"Absolutely not." Shoeshine snapped. "Youre not hurting her." Twilight held up a hand.
"It's just a conversation, why would I hurt her?" She asked confused.
"Probably because you associate with those who do. By saving the students, you saved the ones who are evil. Therefore you support them." Shoeshine snarled.
"She wouldn't need to have saved us if you hadn't helped Sunset." Bon Bon's angry voice came from behind them.
Shoeshine rolled her eyes.
"And here comes another supporter." She grumbled.
"Supporter of what?" Lyra demanded.
Sea Swirl glared at them while Sunset stared at them dejectedly.
"You all harassed and bullied Berry for being a single mother and having a drinking problem. You did this to yourselves, no one else." Sea Swirl snapped. "You deserved to be mind controlled."
Twilight quickly separated them.
"So as revenge for how they treated, you grouped them all together and punished everyone?" She asked.
"Yes." Sunset softly said. "Can't believe the princess of friendship would support that."
"I don't." Twilight firmly said. "There is a better way though."
"Certainly darling." Rarity agreed, having approached them. "We would have stood up for her if we knew."
Bon Bon nodded.
"We would have too." Lyra sighed. "We aren't all bad."
"I need to get going now. It'll be thirty moons before I can return." Twilight announced.
"That's not true." Sunset admitted. Twilight and all present stared at her.
"You can use Celestia's version of the journal to create a machine to allow the portal to stay open." She explained as Twilight's eyes lit up.
"You're a genius." Twilight exclaimed.
"So what now? You take me back to Equestria for execution?" Sunset asked as the others gasped. Berry quickly got in front of her.
"Firstly, I'm Berry Punch. I'm her girlfriend but you can't tell the others. Lyra and Bon Bon and the others present right now would probably spread those rumors to get us harassed. Secondly you are not taking Sunset." She said coolly.
Lyra rolled her eyes.
"Me and Bon Bon are dating. We wouldn't do that to you two." She grumbled.
"I am not taking you to be executed. I wouldn't be a decent princess of friendship if I did." She sat next to Sunset. "Sunset Shimmer, as an Equestrian Princess, I pardon you from all crimes. I grant you full amnesty and give full authority to all the students to visit Equestria as long as you are present or give me a warning." Twilight smiled warmly. She stepped down and was followed to the portal.
"This isn't goodbye forever, it's just bye till next time." She promised as she and Spike disappeared through the portal.
"Sunset? I'm scared. All the others are gonna bully you, Sea Swirl, Shoeshine and me now. I don't wanna be bullied anymore." Berry whimpered.
"You won't be." Fluttershy said firmly. "I know about being bullied and such. None of us will allow that. Especially since we know they were just standing up for you. But in the wrong way."
Lyra nodded.
"I'm sorry. For not noticing. For not standing up for you. It will never happen again." Hers and the others eyes flicked to Sunset.
"It'll take me a bit to trust you, Sunset, but knowing why you did what you did this past year, I understand." Lyra said softly.
Pinkie grinned.
"We got a surprise for you two." She sang as she grabbed Sunset's hand and dragged her and Berry to the gym.
Lyra smirked at Sea Swirl.
"You and Shoeshine better come to." She said, continuing to smirk.
"Why are we in the gym?" Sunset asked nervously. "Are we about to get jumped."
Rarity rolled her eyes.
"No darling."
"We didn't get our Fall Formal dance." Berry admitted as she placed her phone down after turning on a song and grabbed Sunset's hand. "I'm owed one dance." Berry placed a hand on Sunset's waist and shoulder and spun her around. She gave Sunset a quick kiss and smiled.
Lyra and Bon Bon smiled watching this.
"They are cute, to be honest." Bon Bon admitted.
Rarity sighed.
"Aren't they just adorable?" She mumbled as she watched Berry lead Sunset around the floor.
"You know, she was the first person Sunset met here. One of her few friends along with me and Sea Swirl. Sunset lives with her." Shoeshine smirked. "She helped Berry quit drinking alcohol. If Ruby likes her, we all do."
"Ah ain't know nun of this. Shocking." Applejack sighed. Sea Swirl pulled her phone out and showed the group a picture of Sunset and Ruby asleep together on Cherry's couch.
"She's a completely different person at home." She smiled.
"Aww." Fluttershy gushed at the little baby Sunset was cuddling in the picture.
Rarity shook her and pointed to Berry and Sunset.
"I think Berry is about to say it." She exclaimed.
"Uhm say what?" Fluttershy questioned nervously.
Bon Bon smiled.
"You'll see." She teased.
Berry laid her head on Sunset's shoulder.
"You know, if you wanted a teenage army, you could have asked me and I'd willingly have gone along and helped you." She mumbled.
"I didn't want an army. The crown manipulated my anger towards Princess Celestia. Why would you even offer to do that?" Sunset demanded. Berry lifted her head and stared at Sunset.
"Because I love you." She said simply and turned bright red.
Sunset stared at her in surprise.
"You love me?" She whispered.
Berry rolled her eyes and nodded.
"I do." She kissed Sunset again and twirled her tongue around Sunset's tongue.
"I love you too." Sunset answered after Berry pulled away. The two remembered they had an audience when Rarity squeeled in excitement. Sea Swirl grabbed Shoeshine's hand and yanked her.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Shoeshine demanded nervously. Sea Swirl rolled her eyes.
"I didn't get a Fall Formal dance either and who better than the girl I've loved since ninth grade?" Her face turned bright at her accidental admission. "I'm sorry, I'm stupid and never should have said-" She was cut off by Shoeshine kissing her.
"Are you sure you want this grumpy, annoying and loud person?" Shoeshine asked as she let a true smile on her face for the first time in years. Sea Swirl nodded and gave her a kiss
"Does that answer your question?" She asked.
Shoeshine nodded. "Just so you know, I am a horny mother fucker at times so."
Sea Swirl smirked as she placed a hand on Shoeshine's waist.
"Guess what?" She whispered. "Me too. Wanna know what my favorite thing is?" She leaned in and whispered in Shoeshine's ear. Shoeshine turned bright red and Sea Swirl snickered.
"I'm yours if you want me." She kissed Shoeshine's neck. Shoeshine nodded and kissed her back.
Applejack grabbed Rarity's hand.
"Let's give these four some space, yall." She quickly forced them others out the room and smiled.
Author's Note
This might be the longest chapter yet.
"You're cutting it close, Cherry. School begins next week." Celestia said as she sat at her desk, thumbing through the files in front of her.
"I know. I'm sorry. Sunset just moved here and we had to spend a lot of time finding her paperwork." Cherry explained.
Sunset nervously nodded as she watched Celestia looking through her paperwork.
"Well, you do have everything you need. I suppose we can enroll you." Celestia leaned back in her seat. "What school did you say you transferred from?"
"Uhm, Manehatten." Sunset immediately stated and Cherry nodded.
"Canterlot is a long ways from Manehatten." Celestia pointed out and leaned forward. "Got family or something here?"
"Cherry and Berry both called me a few months ago asking if I could come help take care of Ruby. Parents said yes, so I flew over. Ruby is gonna be in daycare during the day, so we decided to enroll me here." Sunset answered calmly.
Celestia stared at her till she turned to her computer. "Alright." She tapped a few keys and smiled. "Well, you're all good to go. Cheerilee is here and can show you where your locker is. I've put it a few lockers down from Berry's." Celestia wrote down a number on a piece of paper and passed it to Sunset.
"Thanks, Principal Celestia." Cherry gave her a warm smile as she stood up.
"Let's go find Cheerilee and your locker." Cherry told Sunset as they left the office.
Berry tied the trash bag shut and lifted it out of the can and grunted. She carried it to the door and dropped it down.
"Absolutely disgusting." She scoffed. She glanced at the clock and sighed. "Seriously? It's only one thirty? Cherry and Sunset have only been gone for an hour, yet it feels like an eternity."
A tugging on her boot strings got her attention and she glanced down at Ruby pulling the strings and putting one in her mouth.
"Wait what? You were in the living room, not the kitchen." Her eyes widened. "No way." She bent down and picked Ruby up. She carried Ruby to the living room and set down, then stepped back a few paces. Ruby stared at her and started to crawl to her and Berry gasped.
"Oh my god!" She exclaimed excitedly. "You're crawling now." She dropped down to Ruby's level and grinned at her. Ruby poked Berry's nose and giggled. Berry planted a kiss on Ruby's forehead and laughed with her.
"Wait, how far can you crawl?" Berry asked, standing up and walking to the dining rooms entrance. "Come here, Ruby." She grimaced at that. "Yuck, sounds like I'm calling a dog. Never doing that again."
Ruby stared at her and slowly crawled to her and stopped in front of her.
Berry giggled excitedly and picked her up. "You did amazing, I'm so proud of you." She gave her another kiss. Ruby laughed then threw up on the front of her shirt.
Berry sighed. "Cute moment, over." She slowly started heading up the stairs with Ruby into the bathroom.
"This here is the Spanish and German room, it's the class I teach." Cheerilee pointed out to Sunset and Cherry as she gave them a tour of the school. "Sometimes I work in the library also."
Sunsets eyes lit up. "Library? Where is that at?"
Cherry giggled. "Sunset really likes books." She explained to Cheerilee.
Cheerilee smiled. "Me too, we got that in common. The library is right down there at the end of the hall on the right." She pointed in the direction she mentioned.
She stopped in front of a row of lockers. "A113, A113." She muttered to herself. "Ah, here you are." Cheerilee opened the locker. "This is your locker. You can buy a locker from the front office for five dollars and get the five dollars back at the end of the year if you return the lock to the office staff."
Cherry nodded. "We can do that. Berry will need one too, especially after last year."
Cheerilee nodded. "Agreed."
Sunset looked between the two. "What happened last year?" She asked.
Cherry gave a sigh. "Just some bullies vandalized her stuff and wrote derogatory stuff in her locker."
Sunset felt anger rush through her. "That's bucked up."
Cheerilee looked confused to her. "I'm sorry, what?"
Cherry rolled her eyes. "It's Sunset's unique way of cursing."
Cheerilee nodded. "Just don't do it during school hours, Celestia and Luna are strict on no swearing allowed."
Sunset rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure. Can we leave now, I want to go hang out with Berry and Ruby." She shut the locker and memorized where it was and headed to the entrance of the school.
"She has Berry's attitude I see." Cheerilee remarked dryly.
"At times." Cherry admitted. "Very rare though."
"Uh huh. Anyway I have to get back to setting my classroom up. Berry and Sunset will get their schedules on the first day." Cheerilee waved and walked down the hall, leaving Cherry alone.
Cherry ran to catch up to Sunset. She was leaning against the car and staring at the sky, admiring the blue sky and birds.
"What was that about, Sunset?" Cherry asked.
Sunset jumped slightly. "I'm not a huge fan of authority to be honest. It seems weird, having my words be restricted."
Cherry nodded. "Just don't let it happen, I'd hate for you to get suspended or kicked out of the school if it gets worse. Deal?"
Sunset gave a curt nod.
"Anyways, we can't go home just yet. Berry asked me to take you to the phone store so they can put your phone on my plan." Cherry told her.
Sunset rubbed the back of her head. "Oh. Right, I forgot about that."
Cherry unlocked the car and both girls plopped down in the seats. Cherry pulled out onto the road as Sunset gazed out the window.
Cherry turned the radio on and started humming to herself.
"So I got some extra money recently and was thinking of getting you a bed instead of you sleeping on Berry's floor. Would you like that?" Cherry asked.
"Well, I'm not exactly sleeping on the floor." Sunset admitted sheepishly.
"Where are you-?" Cherry began her question and her eyes widened. She gave Sunset a wicked smile. "I see. I suppose I could get a bigger bed for you and Berry." She winked at Sunset's blushing face.
"I don't know. When she brought me to your place, she said she didn't wanna be alone and asked me to sleep with her and it's been like that ever since." Sunset said cautiously.
Cherry looked both ways before turning right and flicked her turn signal off. "I see. I assume it's been helping because she's been a lot more open with me and calmer."
Sunset nodded. "It's nice. I haven't slept with anyone in years."
Cherry nodded as she pulled into the stores parking lot. "The last time I slept with anyone was when Berry slept in my bed after having a bad dream. She used to get them a lot."
"Makes sense. She can be very cuddly, is that the term?" Sunset remarked.
Cherry nodded. "She can be at times. Mainly with you and Ruby." She sighed wistfully. "She hasn't hugged me in years."
Sunset placed a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe that'll change someday." She offered a reassuring smile.
Cherry forced a smile onto her face. "Hopefully."
She put the car in park and lead Sunset into the store.
Sunset's eyes widened as she looked around.
"Wow." She managed. "This looks so futuristic."
Cherry snickered. "I know, right." She strode up the desk and started talking to the employee. Sunset wandered around the store, admiring the shiny devices.
"See anything you like?" An employee walked up to her, smiling.
"I'm just looking around, bored. Thanks though." Sunset replied. She looked at the name tag. Minuette, huh interesting name. Sounds vaguely familiar she decided.
Minuette nodded. "Anytime. If you change your mind, come find me." She smiled warmly and walked off into a back room.
Cherry found Sunset staring at a movie playing on a TV. Cherry grinned and walked slowly and placed a hand on Sunset's shoulder. "Boo." She whispered in her ear.
"Ahh!" Sunset yelped and jumped, spinning around. "You scared me."
"Sorry, not sorry." Cherry chuckled. "Ready to go? Your phone is activated and all that jazz." She handed it to Sunset who gratefully accepted it.
"Thank you." Sunset smiled up at the older girl.
"Not a problem. Don't mention it." She waved a hand. She nodded at the TV. "Whatcha watching?"
"I have no clue." Sunset admitted.
Cherry studied the tv scenes for a few moments. "Looks like Lord of the Rings. Good bunch of movies."
Sunset nodded.
"You shall not pass!" A old man shouted from the tv, slamming a staff into a concrete bridge.
"Fellowship of the Ring." Cherry pointed out. "First movie in the series."
"Berry is probably wondering where we are." Sunset replied, glancing down at her phone.
Cherry's eyes widened. "Oh shoot. We should head home." Sunset nodded her agreement and the two took off to the exit where the car was parked.
Cherry slide the key into the ignition and turned the car on.
"How is that everything is so close to the apartment?" Sunset asked as Cherry pulled onto the street.
Cherry chuckled. "I specially chose this apartment because it's within five to ten minutes to everything we need. Berry's school, the store and other places."
She stopped at a stop sign before deeming it safe to go through and she pulled into her parking spot.
They made their way through the apartment complex, stopping only to collect the mail which Cherry was flipping through as they walked. Cherry tossed Sunset the key and she opened the door.
As soon as she opened it, she was grabbed and yanked through the door.
"Ahhh!" She screamed. Cherry's head shot up and she ran inside, kicking the door shut.
"Sunset! Are you good?" Cherry shouted.
"Berry, what the hay?" Sunset demanded. Cherry rushed into the room and took in both girls laying on the floor on top of each other.
She burst out laughing and soon was bent over laughing, her face bright red.
"What is so funny?" Sunset demanded.
"N-nothing. Just give me a minute." Cherry coughed out.
Berry was bright red when she realized how close her hand was to Sunset's chest. She instantly moved it away.
"So, something amazing happened." She stated excitedly.
"What's that?" Sunset asked as she dusted herself off and stood up.
"That!" Berry pointed to Ruby.
"Uh Berry, that's Ruby. She's been here for eleven months now." Cherry pointed out.
"No, that's not it. Watch this!" Berry picked Ruby up and set her down near the couch.
"Step this way." Berry instructed as she stepped to the kitchen entrance.
Sunset and Cherry looked at each other and shrugged, complying with Berry's orders. Ruby looked at the three and started crawling to them.
Cherry and Sunset stared in surprise.
"Awww." Sunset said, grinning.
Cherry gasped. "That's amazing, Berry!" She gushed. "I'm proud of her. How long has she been doing this?"
"Hours! Ever since you two left to go to the school this morning." Berry exclaimed. "We've literally done this all over the downstairs, she hasn't gotten to climbing the stairs yet."
Berry spun around and hugged her sister. Cherry stared in shock and Sunset smiled at her smugly.
She mouthed the words "told you so" to Cherry and continued her smug smile.
Cherry slowly hugged her sister back and smiled.
"Love ya, big sis." Berry whispered. "Thanks. For everything."
"I love you too. And it's not a problem." Cherry whispered back, kissing her younger sisters forehead.
"Let's see, we share economics, science, world history and cinematography." Sunset read off her schedule, standing next to Berry's locker as Berry put her backpack in her locker.
Berry sighed as she pulled out a book.
"I hate math with a burning passion." Berry announced.
Sunset snickered and rolled her eyes. "I quite enjoy it."
Berry giggled and hip bumped her. "Cool, you can do my math homework then."
Sunset sighed. "I can't just do your homework. That's cheating."
Berry rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah." She stole a glance at the schedule Sunset held. "We also share lunch."
"Lunch isn't a class." Sunset retorted.
"We still have the same lunch hour." Berry shot back and waved to a passing girl.
Sunset sighed and conceded. "Fine, you have a point."
Berry pumped her fist in the air and grinned.
Her grin faded at three boys approaching. "Oh boy, here we go."
"What is it?" Sunset asked, following her gaze.
"Hey drunky." One snickered.
Berry gritted her teeth and held her book tighter.
"Been in the hospital recently?" The second piped in, laughing.
The third rolled his eyes. "Nah, if she was, she'd be dead from alcohol poisoning." He joined his friends in laughing.
Sunset narrowed her eyes and stepped forward.
"Watch yourself, or you'll regret it." She warned.
"Or what?" The second taunted.
"Yeah or wha-?" The first tried to say before gasping.
Sunset shoved her book into his stomach hard.
"Or it'll get worse than that." She said coldly, with a threatening undertone.
The two lifted their friend up and glared at her.
"You just fucked up." The third snapped.
Sunset smirked as the three retreated. "Oh, I don't think so."
They retreated around the corner, shooting death glares her way.
Humans are fucking cruel, Sunset mused to herself. They don't really deserve free will, well except Berry, Cherry and Ruby. A smile tugged at her lips at the thought of the three. She was pulled from her musings when a pair of arms hugged her.
"That...was...AMAZING!" Berry gushed, staring into Sunset's eyes with admiration. "Nobody has ever stood up for me like that, other than Cherry."
Sunset returned the hug. "Who were those three?"
"Hoops, Score and Dumb Bell." Berry replied.
Sunset tightened her grip. "They won't bother you again, I promise you that." She smiled at Berry. "Ever." She added.
Berry smiled and rested against Sunset's shoulder.
The bell rang and Berry jumped back, blushing. "That's the bell. We gotta get to class." She grabbed her English book and smiled at Sunset. "See you in third hour. Don't forgot our locks from the office." She took off running and gave a wave.
Sunset smiled and returned the wave. She headed for her locker and grabbed her Chemistry and Integrated Physics book.
"I can be late, i need to get our locks." Sunset muttered aloud.
She kicked her locker shut and headed to the office. She opened the door and headed for the desk. The receptionist looked up and frowned.
"You should be in class." She scolded.
Sunset rolled her eyes. "I needed to get two locks." She pulled out a ten dollar bill and slid it to her.
Grumbling, the receptionist took it and pulled a white tray with locks on it. She picked two and handed them to Sunset.
"I'll write you a pass but only this once. Don't let it happen again." She warned.
"Yeah, yeah." Sunset muttered softly.
The receptionist raised an eyebrow before writing on a piece of paper.
"Here." She handed it to her. "The codes are on the back. The white one is written in purple, grey is written in green. Now get to class."
Sunset snorted and headed for the door. She went to Berry's locker first and put the grey one on it. She whipped her phone out and took a picture of the paper and sent it to Berry.
Sunset-Hey, Berry. Put a lock on your locker. The grey locks combination is wrote in green.
Okay, cool. Thanks, Sunshim. -Berry. A smiley face popped up after Berry's text and Sunset gave a smile.
Sunset strode to her locker and slapped her lock on. She took off down the hall and reached a room with a shut door.
She took a deep breath and knocked.
A pink girl opened the door.
"Wowza, you're late!" She exclaimed.
Sunset was instantly put off by her enthusiasm this early in the morning.
"Brilliant observation, smarty." Sunset grumbled.
She strolled in and handed the teacher the note.
"Were you caught up thinking about cherry chongas? I personally prefer to call then cherry chimmychongas, but to each their own." She followed Sunset to her desk in the back and Sunset tossed her book and slid into her seat.
She glanced up at the pink girl, who was standing still and staring at her.
"What do you want now?" Sunset finally asked.
"You didn't answer my question. Cherry chonga or cherry chimmychongas?" The pink girl asked again.
Sunset rolled her eyes. "If I answer, will you leave me alone? It's too early in the morning for this. It's like nine am."
"Actually, it's eight thirty nine." The pink girl pointed out cheerfully.
Sunset groaned and slammed her head into her desk.
"Pinkie Pie! Quit harassing the newbie." A girl with rainbow hair walked up and grabbed her arm, pulling her back.
"Sorry about that. Pinkie can be a lot." The rainbow haired girl said apologetically.
Sunset rolled her eyes. "It's whatever." She opened her ICP book and started to read the table of contents.
"Uh yeah." The rainbow girl muttered as she went back to her seat.
"Alright, everyone. Quiet down. I'm passing out a syllabus of my expectations for each student this year in my class." The teacher said, standing at the front. "Pass one over you to the student behind you, please."
He turned around and wrote his name, Mr. Whooves on the white board.
"I'm not gonna be a strict teacher or be mean. We'll be doing some pretty cool experiments this year. Just respect me and I'll respect you. And don't destroy my classroom, please." Mr.Whooves said, smiling.
Sunset opened her syllabus and started reading. Basic stuff she realized. This class will be so easy, she mused to herself. She zoned out till the bell rang.
Berry groaned as she read her syllabus from Cranky's class. She read the title in her head: AP English and grumbled incoherent words.
"I demand total respect, I don't care if you have a bad day or lack of sleep, you will treat me with respect." Cranky snapped.
"Oh come onnn!" The same rainbow haired girl groaned out. "You say the same thing every year, we get it."
"Well, Rainbow Dash, since you get it so well, you'll be staying after school with me today and cleaning my room." Cranky said sternly.
Rainbow gawked at him. "It's the first day of school. And your class is clean, dude!"
"Well, dude." Cranky said as he sat down at his desk. "Think before you speak."
The class giggled and Rainbow turned angry red and slumped down in her seat.
Berry rolled her eyes and went back to doodling on her syllabus. The bell rang and a rainbow blur shot out of the class. Berry packed up her belongings and tossed the syllabus into her binder before heading to her locker.
She smiled faintly as she was the last out the class. She preferred it this way, less opportunities to get ran over and trampled by the students trying to escape Cranky's class.
She approached her locker and started to put the combination in when a shadow fell over her. She turned around and shrank in on herself before giving a sigh of relief.
"Hey, Sunshim. Don't do that, you scared me. I thought you were...." Berry trailed off.
Sunset chuckled. "Hoops, Score and Dumb Bell? I told ya, you don't gotta worry about them anymore." She placed a hand on Berry's shoulder and smiled at her.
Berry grinned up at her.
"What do you want for lunch? I was thinking a hamburger and a pop with some fries." Berry asked as she slid her binder into the top shelf.
Sunset gave her a look and shrugged. "We don't eat meat in Equestria so I was thinking a salad. Remember, I first ate grass when I got here?"
Berry giggled at the memory. "True, that was a funny memory. It makes sense that a horse wouldn't eat meat."
"Pony." Sunset corrected instinctively. "I wasn't a horse." She chuckled. "Horse is kinda an insult back home."
Berry's eyes widened. "I'm sorry, I didn't know." She shivered. "Please don't be mad at me."
Sunset raised an eyebrow and cocked her head slightly before chuckling.
"Oh, Berry I could never be mad at you. It's my fault for not telling you." Sunset said.
Berry gave her a soft smile and leaned into her.
"Fair enough. We should probably head to the lunchroom and get the best tables." Berry snickered.
"Lead the way." Sunset said. "No, seriously lead the way. Cheerilee didn't show me at all when Cherry and I came here last week."
Berry laughed. "It's this way." She shut her locker and locked it before walking down the hall with Sunset next to her.
"Speaking of Miss Cheerilee, did you hear she's gonna be teaching our cinematography class in addition to her normal language classes?" Berry asked.
Sunset shook her head. "No, I didn't hear anything about that. It didn't even say the teachers name on the schedule for that class."
"I noticed that too. Very interesting." Berry agreed. She glanced down and noticed how close her and Sunset's hands were and turned slightly red.
She shook her head to quit thinking about that.
"Something wrong?" Sunset asked.
"Nope, just thinking." Berry answered.
"Alright, then." Sunset replied. She didn't believe her, but wasn't gonna push it.
Berry grabbed a tray and slide down the line.
"So you pick up what you want, you go to that keypad and put your code in. If you want extra stuff, like a water or chips it costs extra." Berry explained. She pointed to it with her free hand.
"Gotcha." Sunset replied. She picked up a salad and added a sauce on her tray with some fries. She watched Berry put her code in and did the same. She was mind blown by how advanced this world's technology was.
She slid into a empty seat next to Berry and looked around her.
"Why is everyone separated like this?" She questioned.
Berry shrugged. "Clubs like to sit with each other, similar interests and all. Makes the day go by easier." She took a bite of her hamburger.
Sunset grimaced down at her fork and struggling to get it out of the packaging.
"Who the hell thought putting this fork in plastic wrap was a good idea?" She grumbled as it fumbled out of her hand onto the table.
Berry giggled at the scene playing out next to her. "Do you want some help with that?"
"Yes please." Sunset admitted as Berry took it from her hands, bit down on the plastic and ripped it open with her teeth.
"Tada, one spork." Berry announced proudly, handing it to Sunset.
Sunset stared at her. "I never knew teeth had so many uses."
Berry gave her a wink before taking a sip of her pop. "Teeth can be used for a lot of things. Opening things, biting people if needed. You get the gist."
Sunset stabbed a tomato and started chewing. "Interesting." She gazed down at her salad. "This would be better with black olives."
Berry grinned at her and reached into her pocket. She tossed her a small can of black olives.
"What the hell, Berry?" Sunset burst out laughing. "Do you just carry black olives everywhere you go?"
Berry nodded with a smug grin. "You never know when olive emergencies will arise. Such as now, with your salad." She joined Sunset in laughing.
They looked up as a few girls slid into the seats across from them.
"Hey Shoeshine, hey Sea Swirl." Berry greeted. Sunset stared into her salad and quietly added the olives before eating.
"How's it going?" Sea Swirl asked, smiling.
"Good, you." Berry replied.
Sea Swirl shrugged and took a sip of her water. "Could be better, Harshwhinny is being an ass today. And it's only the first day too, God help me if it gets worse as the year goes on."
Shoeshine nodded in Sunset's direction. "Who's this?" She asked Berry.
"Sunset, this is Shoeshine and Sea Swirl." Berry introduced her. "We went to middle school together."
"Hi." Sunset said softly as she tossed a fry into her mouth. "These are nothing like hay fries." She scoffed.
"Hay fries?" Sea Swirl questioned, with a raised eyebrow.
"It's a Manehatten thing, she's from there. It's a weird type of fry." Berry quickly interjected and Sunset nodded her agreement.
Shoeshine bit her pizza. "Huh, never knew that. I gotta find a hay fry stand next time I go visit."
Berry and Sunset exchanged looks before laughing.
"What is it?" Shoeshine demanded with a mouthful of pizza. Sea Swirl rolled her eyes in disgust.
"Honestly, Shoeshine. I don't get how you can eat food like that." She scoffed.
Sunset waved her hand. "Hay fries are a gift from God. Good luck finding a stand." She and Berry started laughing harder at that.
A spoonful of apple sauce landed on Sunset's shirt as the table went quiet.
"What the hell?" Sunset snapped and her eyes searched the cafeteria before they fell on three laughing boys from earlier. She slammed her hands down on the table and stood.
"Sunset, please sit down." Berry pleaded.
Sunset gestured to the apple sauce that splattered on Berry after hitting Sunset
"They got applesauce on you. This cannot stand." Sunset exclaimed.
Berry slumped into her seat and ate a fry. "It's not important. I'm used to it."
Sunset shook her head. "I said you didn't have to deal with them again and I meant it."
She stomped her way to the table where the boys were at.
Berry watched her walk over there and smiled softly. This didn't go unnoticed by her friends, who exchanged quick grins.
"Well, well." Shoeshine purred. "Someone has a crush."
Berry turned red. "I do not." She exclaimed.
"Oh, please. You've been hugging her all day and watching her walk. It's evident." Sea Swirl pointed out. "You even sat next to her in Economics. You typically sit with us."
Berry sighed. "Fine, I like her. So what?"
"So ask her out, stupid." Shoeshine rolled her eyes. "Ow!" She rubbed her shoulder where Sea Swirl smacked her.
"Be nice, don't call Berry stupid." She scolded. "Anyway, I think you should ask her out. Take her to the movies, see how things work. It's not like she lives with you." Sea Swirl laughed.
Berry gave a nervous chuckle. "Yeah about that. She actually does live with us."
Shoeshine choked on her Pepsi.
"For how long?" She asked.
Berry put a finger on her chin. "Three months or so? She sleeps in my room, she's very cuddly. Nice to sleep with someone again to be honest."
Sea Swirl let out a cough. "Let me get this straight. You like her, she lives with you and you two share a bed every night?"
Berry nodded.
"Then what the hell are you waiting for? You're practically already dating if she lives with you and you sleep together." Sea Swirl demanded.
Berry shrugged. "I'm not sure. What if she rejects me?"
Shoeshine rolled her eyes. "She willingly gets in bed with you, I think her feelings are pretty damn evident."
Berry nodded. "You're right, I should ask her out. We can go see a movie."
Sea Swirl gave her a grin. "Good shit. Go get her."
A loud crashing sound got their attention and they turned to look. Score had apple sauce and chocolate milk all over his hair and shirt.
The cafeteria burst out laughing at the three boys and they stormed out the cafeteria.
Sunset walked back to her table and sat down, picking at her salad.
Berry smiled at her and leaned against with her head on her shoulder. Shoeshine and Sea Swirl shot another quick grin to each other. Unknown to the group, two freshman boys had been watching where Sunset went.
"I swear, if I get one more syllabus, I'm killing myself." Sunset groaned.
Berry chuckled. "Me too. I don't get why they give us one every year for each class. I think I still have all mine from last year and only minor things have changed. They could at least make it more entertaining, like a slideshow."
"I'm just ready to go home and rest. Bed sounds nice." Sunset said.
"It does." Berry admitted. "I'm looking forward to seeing Ruby, I hate her being away from me for so long."
"I agree. That kid is pretty awesome." Sunset snickered as she remembered Ruby crawling up the stairs last night and Berry freaking out from excitement.
Berry shut her locker and slipped her back pack on. "Ready to go?"
"Mhm." Sunset already had her bag on. The two wormed their way through the crowd to the front door before Sunset felt two hands grabbing her arms.
"What the hell is the big idea?" She and Berry spun around to face to smaller teenagers.
Berry groaned. "What do you want, Snips and Snails?"
"Nothing. Except to talk to her." Snails pointed.
"It was like, totally awesome what you did to Score, Hoops and Dumb Bell." Snips piped in.
"Yeah! You're like, our hero now." Snails added.
"Uh huh." Sunset said nervously as she pulled her arms. "Can you two please let go of my arms, it was really nothing?"
"Nothing? It was spectacular!" Snips shouted.
Berry rolled her eyes. "As much as we love your company, our ride is here. Goodbye."
She pulled Sunset's arm free from Snips grip and gave Snails a look.
He sheepishly let go and Berry opened the backseat, shoving Sunset in before throwing herself in next to her.
Cherry looked in the rear view mirror and gave the two a grin. "Looks like you two made a few new friends."
Berry shivered. "Please, just drive."
Cherry gave a laugh and complied with the request.
Author's Note
This is probably my favorite ship so far for Sunset. Sunset and Twilight is too overrated, too alike in my opinion. I'm having fun writing this, it's gonna focus more on her home life than at school.
