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The Shimmer of Magic

by Hakuno

Chapter 19: 19. Transition

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Chapter 19. Transition.

Sunset stared at the steam coming from her coffee. It was a strange feeling, waking up at ten in the morning on a school day. Her phone had rung twice, but she had ignored it since the caller ID told her it was from CHS, and she didn’t want to speak to Celestia -she had a feeling that it could only be her.

She had half expected the girls to call her as well, knowing that Pinkie most likely had her phone number somehow. But such call never came. She thought that maybe they were leaving her alone so she could rest. Not that Sunset minded, but she had mixed feelings: On one hand, she was grateful that she wasn’t being bothered, but on the other hand, she didn’t like being pitied.

A sigh escaped her as she grabbed her cup of coffee with her both hands.

Last night had been a dreamless one. No nightmares forcing her awake drenched in sweat, just a black screen from night to morning. After a week of constant nightmares, it felt weird to not dream at all. She even felt refreshed, if only for the lack of post-nightmare morning adrenaline rush.

She stretched her feet forward and rested them on the opposite chair to her own, and after a quick sip to her coffee, she leaned back and looked up to the white ceiling.

It had been a sudden decision, leaving CHS for good, but Sunset didn’t even think it was wrong. She needed to get away from there for her own sake. The only con she could find was that she didn’t have anything better to do until Saturday, when she had to go help the brothers and restart her job.

Taking another sip of coffee, Sunset’s mind wandered for a while, and inevitably, she started thinking on her girlfriend. Trixie had left before dusk, saying that she really didn’t want to walk through Hollow Shades’ streets at night. Sunset couldn’t really blame her, as she had felt the same way the first few weeks she started living there.

Sunset had also agreed to be Trixie’s manager, and in hindsight, that decision seemed more abrupt than leaving CHS. Sunset knew many things about how human businesses worked, but she had no real clue of how to be a manager, least of all a magician’s manager.

She let out a long sigh as she leaned forward. And after a couple of seconds of humming and drumming her fingers against the table, she realized that she could always search it up on the internet. She had a laptop, after all. She could also investigate of and write a contract, so that no matter what could happen in their romantic relationship, their professional one wouldn’t get damaged.

Now that she had something she could focus her mind on, she felt a little more relaxed. And with a small smile, she sipped her coffee once more.

~~~~~~~~

Trixie placed her tray of food upon the table as she sat down. The only one there besides her was Twilight, who was scribbling something in a notebook and didn’t seem to have noticed her. Trixie leaned back as she munched an apple, idly gazing at Twilight and waiting for her to realize that she had company. When such thing didn’t happen, Trixie decided to peek on Twilight’s notes by leaning forward and practically invading her personal space.

And yet, Twilight was completely oblivious of her, so Trixie cleared her throat loudly.

“Oh, hey Trixie,” Twilight said, offering a small smile.

“What are you doing?” Trixie asked, resuming a normal sitting position.

Twilight eyed her notes and sighed. “I’m trying to figure out how to stabilize the coils so that the energy current doesn’t get cut off every second. That would greatly help the battery to charge at a constant rate, and prevent the wires from burning up.”

“Uh-huh,” Trixie munched a little more of her apple before continuing. “Trixie will assume you’re talking about your science project thingy.”

Against her better judgement, Twilight rolled her eyes. “Yes, I am.” She took the tip of her pen to her lower lip and hummed. “The real problem is that the amperage is so irregular, the converter can’t keep up properly and ends up blowing.”

Trixie decided to ignore any further technobabble. If it were physics or trigonometry, she knew that she would be able to hold a decent conversation. But even though she knew the basics of electricity, thus being able to build her levitation illusion, Twilight was talking about something really advanced, and Trixie didn’t really feel like trying to figure it out.

“... But I think I almost solve the issue, I just need to keep trying until I make it work,” Twilight said, scribbling some more on her notebook. “I’m certain that I will be a hundred percent prepared for the Science Fair.” She smiled and drunk a little of her grape juice. “But enough about me, what about you?”

Trixie blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Your magic show,” Twilight replied. “Or magic career, if you prefer. What have you done about it?”

“Well, I’m about to sign a contract with some sponsors, so I should start holding shows in the near future.”

“That’s so great!” Pinkie’s voice startled the girls. “I can’t wait to go to your shows! I bet they’ll be as awesomely fantastic as the one you did here!” She said as she sat down with her food tray.

Not very far from Pinkie were Rarity and Rainbow, who sat down at each side of Pinkie.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but, don’t you need a manager for that?” Rarity asked.

At that, Trixie produced a confident smug. “Indeed. In fact, Trixie has hired Sunset to be her manager! And before you say anything: yes, it is possible.”

“I dunno,” Rainbow said, idly scratching the back of her head. “Won’t it getcha in trouble to sleep with your manager?”

Trixie did her best to scowl at that, but her puffed, slightly red cheeks didn’t give her the look she wanted. Fortunately for her, Applejack, who was just arriving, overheard the conversation, and thus hit Rainbow’s arm.

“Hey! Why are you always hitting me?!” Rainbow asked angrily.

“Maybe that way y’all start thinkin’ before speakin’!” Applejack replied as she sat down with her own tray of food.

The little distraction gave Trixie enough time to regain her composure. “I don’t know why I even speak to you,” she said, crossing her arms. “But just so you know: There aren’t rules that forbid me to date one of my business partners.”

“I don’t want to sound rude,” Rarity said, “but there’s a reason people avoid situations like yours. Are you sure you two can work it out?”

“Absolutely,” Trixie replied. “And we’ve already talked about the many possible outcomes. Even the negative ones. We have everything sorted out.”

“Alright,” Rarity said, offering a small smile, “But just in case, you know that if anything happens, we support you.”

Trixie nodded.

“And speakin’ of,” Applejack continued. “How’s Sunset doing?”

Trixie huffed, deciding to stare at her sandwich. “She’s… She’ll need time, and she’ll need our support.” She looked up to Rainbow. “And that we don’t bring up the subject.”

“Hey! Why do you look at me?” Rainbow asked.

“Trixie wasn’t looking at you, you just happened to be the first one Trixie saw while saying that.” Trixie couldn’t help the grin from forming when Applejack and Pinkie started laughing. “But my point still stands. Just don’t talk about it unless she feels ready.”

“I think that’s fair,” Rarity mentioned. “By the way, Principal Celestia asked me to tell Sunset to go to her office tomorrow. You can get in contact with her and tell her, right?”

Trixie hummed for a moment. “Why does she want to see Sunset?”

“Obviously, so that Sunset can tell her what happened,” Rainbow answered. “I think she only wants more excuses to expel that girl.”

“Lyra,” Pinkie intervened.

“Whatever.”

Trixie sighed as she leaned back on her seat. “Well, I could tell her, but…” She looked up at the girls and produced an awkward smile. “She kind of won’t return to CHS.”

Everyone turned to look at her with surprise. “I‘m so sorry, darling,” Rarity said, stifling a nervous laugh. “I think I didn’t quite understand that.”

“She said that she won’t return, that there’s nothing here for her.”

“And you didn’t try to convince her to keep coming?” Rainbow asked with a raised eyebrow.

Trixie shook her head. “It’s her decision, not mine.”

“But, if she stops coming to school, what is she going to do?” Twilight asked. “I mean, won’t she go to college either?”

“I don’t know,” Trixie replied. “All I know is that, even if she won’t show it, she’s really depressed, and the last thing she needs is that we try to force her to do something she doesn’t want to.”

“But, does that mean we won’t see her again?” Pinkie asked, and her hair seemed to flatten, somehow.

“I believe I can convince her to still go shopping this Sunday with us.” Trixie scratched the back of her head. “I’ll be honest with you. She still thinks that you aren’t being sincere with the whole befriending her thing.”

Applejack hummed at that as she leaned on the table. “Ah can see why she’d think that. But then, how can we show ‘er that we really wanna be her friends?”

“The best thing I can think of right now is supporting her,” Rarity offered. “Even though I disapprove the idea of her abandoning her studies, she is an adult, and as such, she can decide to do whatever she wants.”

“But it’s hard to think of Sunset Shimmer as a dropout,” Fluttershy commented. “I always pictured her as becoming some kind of business woman, or something like that.”

Trixie snorted. “You are not wrong, yellow one. She’s my manager now, that totally counts as business.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Fluttershy answered.

“I just hope she gets better,” Twilight said. “Nobody deserves to be deprived of returning home… I can’t even begin to imagine if I wasn’t allowed at my parent’s anymore.”

“You know what we should do?!” Pinkie asked, raising her hand.

“A party?” Rainbow replied.

“A “We tots wanna be your friends and you’re awesome” party!” Pinkie concluded. “It can be at Sugarcube Corner after we go shopping!”

“Ah don’t know,” Applejack said. “It’s on Sunday, and we have classes the next day.”

“Aw come on!” Pinkie pleaded. “One absence won’t harm our academic record!” She looked around the girls. “Pretty please?”

Rarity hummed for a moment. “Well, I certainly don’t see any harm in that.” She turned to the rest of the girls. “What about you?”

“A day off of school? Count me in!” Rainbow said.

“Ah don’t think Ah can skip school with Granny Smith bein’ the cook,” Applejack said. “But Ah can still assist to the party if Ah leave early.”

“Uhm, I don’t think my parents will allow me to stay up late at a party,” Fluttershy said. “I’d have to go very early so I don’t worry them.”

Twilight tapped her index finger against her lips before speaking. “I can always ask my dad to pick me up.” She turned to Fluttershy. “If you don’t live very far off course, we can take you home too.”

“Well, I live near Central Square.”

“Yeah, I think we can pull it off.”

“What about you, Trixie?” Pinkie asked.

Trixie looked thoughtfully at Pinkie for a few seconds. “It will only be us, right?”

“Aside from Mr. and Mrs. Cake, yes.”

“Then I’ll probably be able to go too,” Trixie replied. “I’ll just have to tell Sunset about it.”

“But I want it to be a surprise!” Pinkie whined.

Trixie huffed. “Yes, but she has a job. And since I don’t know her schedule, I have to make sure she can make it to the party.”

Pinkie leaned back with a pout. “Ok…”

“Wait,” Rainbow said. “She works for you now, doesn’t she? How don’t you know her schedule?”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “She has another job. How do you think she’s been able to make a living in an alternate world for over two years?”

Rarity straightened up. “Now that you mention it… I’ve never thought about it. I always assumed she had a family or something, but after she told us she’s not from this world…” Her eyes widened. “I’m a terrible friend! I didn’t even put a thought on the subject!”

“Don’t worry Rares,” Applejack said, placing a hand on Rarity’s shoulder. “Ah don’t think any of us thought about it. But that don’t make us bad friends.”

“No, but that’s precisely the reason why Sunset doesn’t quite trust you yet,” Trixie deadpanned.

Rainbow huffed. “And here I thought we were already past the trust issues! She was a jerk to everyone for years and we forgave her! But we don’t ask her how she earns money and that suddenly makes us unworthy of her trust?! I call bullshit.”

“Well, I took the time to ask her all the pertinent questions,” Trixie replied, pointing a thumb at herself. “Besides, I’m the only one that approached her without promising anyone to do it!”

That caught Rainbow off guard, as she couldn’t even respond.

“She…” Rarity was the first to speak. “She told you that?”

“Yes. You all promised the princess to befriend her. And thus, Sunset thinks you’re just forcing a relationship without even wanting it.”

“You actually did that?” Twilight asked, producing a concerned frown.

“Hey! It’s not like she forced us to do it!” Rainbow replied. “She asked us if we’d take care of her and we agreed. We aren’t forcing anything!” She looked at Trixie. “Besides, you weren’t there! You don’t know how it happened!”

Trixie sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “Ok, this is getting out of control.” She shifted in her seat to make herself more comfortable. “I’m just saying what she told me, what she thinks is going on. She wants to trust you, but she’s having troubles believing it. And not because you are bad girls, but because she was a bad girl herself.” She stared straight to Rainbow’s eyes. “She’s having a hard time believing that you can just forgive her like that, and that you are just trying to befriend her for the promise you made to the princess.”

Rainbow blinked. “... Really?”

“Yes,” Trixie replied. “That’s why I told you that she needs your support. If you show her that your intentions are genuine, she’s more likely to open up to you, and to overcome her depression.”

“Well, that’s awfully nice of ya,” Applejack said with a smile.

“Yeah, I never thought you could be this nice,” Rainbow mocked.

Once again, Trixie rolled her eyes. “Anyway, let’s eat before lunchtime is over. I’ll try to convince Sunset to go to the party.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Rarity concluded.

~~~~~~~~

Sunset stretched up her arms. She was sitting on her couch with her laptop upon her crossed legs. A few pops came from her shoulders before she relaxed again. The little clock and the right bottom corner of the screen signaled four o’clock. She hummed, a little surprised that she had been working non-stop for so many hours. That explained the little food-lacking induced headache that was building in her forehead.

The bell of her apartment rang. Sunset let out a heavy sigh. It was probably the old woman from next door that wanted to sell her shoes. Again.

She lazily stood up, carefully placing the laptop aside, and walked to the door. But when she opened it, not only did she feel relieved that it wasn’t her neighbor; she was pleasantly surprised to find her girlfriend standing there.

“Hey, Trix,” Sunset said with a wide smile. “Come on in.” Trixie stepped inside, turning around just when Sunset closed the door. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Trixie forced a sideway pout as she placed her hands on her hips. “Care to tell me why everyone here is calling me ‘Lulu’?”

Sunset grinned sheepishly. “Uhh, coincidence?” When Trixie frowned, Sunset couldn’t avoid to chuckle. “Hey, you needed a nickname so that people here recognize you as not a foreigner. You wouldn’t want to get robbed, right?”

“I understand that,” Trixie replied, deciding to cross her arms in front of her chest. “But you could’ve told them I’m The Great and Powerful Trixie! My stage name would be more proper!”

“Yeah… no,” Sunset said, still smiling. “Trust me, you wouldn’t want them to know your stage name. At least until you’re famous.”

Trixie huffed. “Whatever.” She glanced at Sunset’s attire and smiled. “I like your pajamas.” Sunset snickered, and Trixie stepped forward to give Sunset a quick kiss in the lips. “And to answer your question: I just wanted to know how you’re holding up.”

Sunset’s smile remained, although Trixie did notice a faint quiver in her eyebrows. “I’m fine. I wrote our contract!”

Trixie raised an eyebrow and blinked twice. “Our contract?”

“Yeah,” Sunset replied as she walked up to the couch. “We need to do everything legal, you know? A contract will allow us to have a healthy business relationship completely separated from our romantic one.” She sat down and took the laptop upon her legs again, tapping the other place of the couch, motioning Trixie to accompany her. “Take a look.”

It didn’t take Trixie more than a few seconds to realize that Sunset had purposely changed the subject. She figured to just let it slide; Sunset will talk about it when she is ready.

“Show Trixie what you’ve done,” Trixie said as she sat down, crossing her legs under her body.

Sunset scrolled up the screen to the first page she wrote. “I’ll read it aloud. If you have any question, just ask.”

Trixie hummed an agreement.

For the following hour, Sunset proceeded to read and explain every single sentence written in the contract, making sure that Trixie fully understood it all.

At first, Trixie was very lost. All that legal technobabble was even more confusing than what Twilight often prattled about. But as she kept asking Sunset to reword and explain, she slowly began to understand.

Sunset had created a contract that greatly favored Trixie. Basically, as her manager, Sunset had to find Trixie the best contracts to perform, serve as a third party for businesses, search for the best sponsors, and overall have Trixie’s best interests at heart. She even had already decided to only get herself five percent of Trixie’s total earnings as her payment.

“That, Trixie doesn’t agree with,”

Sunset blinked. “Which part?”

“You are not getting only five percent, that’s too little,” Trixie replied. “You will get fifteen percent, no less.”

“Trixie-”

“No,” Trixie interrupted. “We talked about it. Our relationship won’t interfere with our partnership. Fifteen percent is an ideal amount for a manager. Period.”

Sunset sighed and bit her lower lip. “Ten percent.”

“Fifteen,” Trixie insisted. “It isn’t debatable, Sunset.” She looked directly at Sunset’s eyes. “Why do you do this?”

“Do what?”

Trixie leaned closer as a frown formed in her face. “Ever since the Fall Formal, you act like you don’t deserve to be happy.”

Sunset closed her eyes and turned around, letting out a jaded huff. “How many times do I have to go over this?”

“No, I get why you feel guilty. That’s perfectly understandable. But you act like you aren’t worthy of having fun, or of people’s help.” Sunset stood up and walked to the opposite side of the room. “Empathy is not the same as pity!”

Sunset turned around, producing a deep scowl. “I don’t know, ok?!” She snapped, throwing up her arms. “I thought I deserved punishment! And I had it! The only thing that gave me a reason to live is gone! And now I don’t know what to do or how should I feel!” She didn’t notice she was crying until her tears started dripping from her chin. “I don’t even know how I feel right now…”

Thinking fast, Trixie stood up and closed the distance between them, wrapping Sunset in a tight hug.

Sunset placed her forehead against Trixie’s shoulder, letting her arms fall at her sides. “I just can’t figure this out… I… I’m lost…” She drowned a hiccup.

Trixie started to caress the back of Sunset’s head, pulling her just a little closer. “Let it out, Sunset.”

As if it was a command, Sunset couldn’t hold back anymore, and she cried. All the while, Trixie remained silent, patiently waiting until Sunset finished.

When she was sure that Sunset was starting to calm down, Trixie ended the hug, taking Sunset by the hand and guiding her back to the couch. As they sat down, Sunset used her free hand to clean the tears from her eyes.

“I won’t claim I understand how you feel,” Trixie started with a loud whisper. “But I feel empathy. I know that you’re going through a very difficult situation.” She placed her free hand upon Sunset’s shoulder and squeezed it gently. “But you’re not alone. I’m here, and you have friends, too.”

Sunset looked at the floor, but before she could say anything, Trixie continued. “They do care about you, Sunset. In fact, they want to throw you a party this Sunday after we go shopping.”

“A party,” Sunset deadpanned.

“They want to prove to you that they are being honest when they say they really want to be your friends.” Trixie gently took Sunset’s chin and lifted it to make her look at her. “Give them a chance, Sunset. And give yourself a chance too. You deserve friends, and you deserve to be happy.”

For a moment, Sunset remained silent, but after just a couple of seconds, she managed a small smile. “I don’t think I deserve you.”

Trixie snickered and pulled Sunset in a kiss. When she leaned back, she had a smug grin. “Is the Great and Powerful Trixie too much for you?”

Sunset gave a chuckle of her own. “You’re a dork.” She leaned closer and began kissing Trixie’s chin and cheeks with quick kisses.

Trixie couldn’t avoid to giggle. But as much as she enjoyed the attention, she knew that it was time to stop when Sunset was starting to get too affectionate. “Alright, alright, don’t get too carried away,” she said as she gently pushed Sunset away. “We still have to finish the contract.”

“Aw, come on!” Sunset whined. “Can we make out properly for once?”

Trixie sighed and placed a finger on Sunset’s lips. “Contract now. Make out later.”

Sunset pouted. “Fine.” She grabbed her laptop and changed the part of her payment from five percent to fifteen percent. “There, done. Do you agree with the contract? I know I do.”

Giggling, Trixie placed her hand on the laptop lid and carefully closed it, all the while staring at Sunset’s eyes. “Just one thing. Don’t you dare leave any hickeys, understood?”

Sunset grinned deviously.

Author's Notes:

Constructive criticism is appreciated.

Next Chapter: 20. Friendly Soireé Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 30 Minutes
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