"Are ya done yet?" Asked Applejack, averting her eyes from the terrifying view of the worst crime to common sense that remained legal in all states. "This place's creepin' me out!"

Rarity wasn't the least bit bothered by her less than stylish, yet still somehow 'cute in her own way' friend. "Endure it for just one more minute, darling."

Applejack tried to avoid eye contact with the price tag of a certain necklace lying in the display case of the jewelry store "Ah ain't comfortable 'round rocks smaller than an apple seed that could buy a new tractor!"

"Darling, you're exegarating,"

"With a driver. An' a farm!"

Rarity rolled her eyes. "I assure you, they're more than worth their price. Haven't you heard that diamonds are a girls' best friends?"

"Wasn't friendship priceless?"

Rarity snorted and let the conversation end before it jumped the shark. Soon after the clerk approached her, carrying a small, black box with content that grew Rarity's smile thrice fold. She was about to reach for it, when...

"FREEZE, THIS IS A ROBBERY!"

Three tall and bulky men rushed inside the store, all dressed in matching blue jeans, leather jackets and hockey masks, each carrying a pistol aimed at random clients. Applejack put a hand protectively before Rarity, gently pushing her slightly behind her, while everyone in the store raised their hands or cowered in fear on the ground.

The shortest of the bunch, presumably the leader, broke the display case while shouting orders. "Give us all the good stuff and nobody's getting hurt, got that?" He grabbed whatever he could, while his partners did the same to other display cases, cash registry and clients, stuffing whatever they could their in their bags and pockets. "And don't try to be a hero, or I'll shoot ya full'a holes!"

Applejack swallowed at the gun being pointed at her. Evil she-demons, sirens and other magical dangers: she saw it all. A human with a weapon made for killing other humans, without the power of friendship on her side? That wasn't worth the risk. She complied with the robbers' orders and held her hands up.

The main robber grabbed a few more items, before his eyes settled on the little box that one of the clerks held up in his hands. He moved to him and yanked the box for himself, pointing the gun at Rarity, who raised her hands again, thus stopping her gem-defending instinct from dooming her life. The robber's eyes could be seen narrowing even through the hockey mask, his intimidating gaze right at Rarity and Applejack trying to shield her, when...

"That's not a way to treat a lady!"

Everyone turned toward the front entrance to the store.

"Explains why you can't get a date, though!" The familiar voice added, ending with a snort. "And that's before having a snout so ugly you need to wear masks!"

All three guns were now pointed at the newcomer. She was a tall, young girl, around high school age. She was dressed in an overproduced frilly dress of shades of reds, yellows and oranges which only Rarity could name or even count. And despite wearing a wide, glittering orange domino mask, everyone could see the dark orange of her skin, as well as a fiery red and yellow hair tied with golden ribbons into symmetrical, twin tails. She struck a heroic pose, with one leg slightly forward, left arm on her waist, right hand extended at the robbers, pointing at the leader with a finger.

"Who the hell are you? Scram!"

The girl didn't budge, her smile growing even wider. She waggled her finger as she started talking. "I don't blame you for not knowing, I'm new in town. I decided to bless you, of all criminals, with my debut public action, so you could gloat in jail that you were the first ones who witnessed the power of..."

"Ah, shut up!" The leader turned to his henchmen. "Teach'er a lesson!"

The girl pouted, crossing her hands. "At least let me finish! I should've cut straight to the chase." She didn't move from her original spot, even as two muscled men approached her, each with a gun pointed right at her. "I don't guarantee you'll be awake when I finish my introductions, just FYI. You'll be feeling really bad when this goes viral and you'll be all beaten by a little gi-- holy shmoly!" She interrupted herself, as her eyes caught something on the side. She leaned over a lone, unbroken display with a certain, oversized necklace inside. "How many zeroes are there? You call this a sale? You could buy a house with that baby! With a family inside!"

"Told'ya!"

"Not now!"

"I heard diamonds are girls' best friends and all, but wasn't friendship supposed to be priceless?"

"Told'ya that, too!"

"Not! Now!"

"GET HER!" As the boss ordered, the two thugs rushed at the girl with their fists aiming straight at her face, while she was still being distracted by the price tag.

***

"Woah, woah, woah, time out!" Rainbow Dash interrupted her friends "Sunset Shimmer? OUR Sunset Shimmer?"

Applejack and Rarity nodded in unison. "Ah couldn't believe it mahself!"

"That doesn't sound like Sunset Shimmer at all." Fluttershy said. "More like old, evil Sunset, but as a superhero, maybe, but..."

"Maybe you're confusing her with someone else?" Twilight Sparkle added, scratching her head. "I mean, she was wearing a mask, it could be anyone."

Rarity waved her hand. "Darling, with all due respect, I know my Sunset Shimmer when I see one. I've styled her hair countless times and I by now I know her measurements down to a millimeter.

"You know all of our measurements."

"Not the point."

Applejack nodded. "An' she sounded like'er too! A bit off-character, but da real deal. An' don' even get me started on da dress! If Ah didn' turn magical pony ears every once in a while Ah'd say THAT was the gaudiest thing Ah've ever seen!"

"Darling, the word you're looking for is fabulous! I wish I had time to snap a photo. That was such a delicate design, I would love to put my spin on it!"

Suddenly Pinkie Pie raised her hand and waved at the group. "Oooh, oooh, me! I have a picture!" She pulled out her phone and showed them exactly what Rarity's colorful description implied. They stared at it for a moment, before turning to the pink girl.

"Pinkie Pie," Applejack asked, while massaging her temples "how long did you have that picture?"

"Since this morning."

"And you didn't tell us before, because...?"

"I tried! First thing I saw you five I was about to go 'hey girls did you see Sunset Shimmer in a magical girl outfit thing that was going all over MyStable that's super adorbs', but then Rarity was like 'you'll never guess what happened to us yesterday' and all I could think of was 'Rarity installed a chocolate fountain in her bathroom', but then I remembered she was on a diet, so I was out of ideas and you wanted to talk first so I thought my news could wait." Then she smiled widely.

Her five friends took a bit of time to blink and nod. Twilight was about to open her mouth to ask a question, but Rainbow Dash put a hand on her shoulder and gave her the patented 'it's Pinkie Pie, better don't ask' head shake.

While her friends took time to not ask unnecessary questions, Pinkie Pie opened a MyStable app and showed it to everybody. "Her fanpage has over 400 likes! Just this morning it was only 200! Now it's 413... 417... 420! Woooo, you go girl!"

They watched the page together in silence until it reached 450, then Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Now I've seen literally everything."

"You think that's weird? Wait until we tell you what happened next!"

***

Time slowed to a crawl, as two burly men in hockey masks threw themselves at "Sunset Shimmer", still admiring the necklace, along with its price. Rarity and Applejack opened their mouths to shout a warning, but before anything else happened, Sunset extended one hand, palm opened, at the closer thug.

"Sunny..." she quietly murmured, as a faint, cyan aura gathered around her hand, then shouted "...BLAST!" Then shot at the man, sending him flying several feet back, colliding with a big display case, shattering itself on impact.

"Sunset" winced, examining the hand she just shot with. "Oookay, wrong angle. Guess I should've skipped the 'distracted by shiny' act. Sorry," she shrugged. "I was going to call an ambulance anyway. note to self- try to avoid collateral damage. Even if they're insured and it looks cooler that way."

All the jaws that were about to shout about the danger dropped even lower, and the second thug stopped in his tracks, looking between the magical girl and his fallen comrade. The painful groans at least confirmed that he was still alive, but out of commission for today.

"Don't just stand there, you moron!" The leader shouted at his still standing underling. "GET HER!"

The thug shook his head, then focused his gaze on Sunset Shimmer, who was still busy examining her hand. His fist shot right in her direction, getting closer and closer to her face... and then it collided with the wall! He shouted a few obscenities over his shattered knuckles, his pain mixing with confusion over the location of his original target.

"BEHIND YOU!"

The thug's eyes widened, as he turned around only to see an open palm aimed straight at his face, with energy already building up. With legs and hands trembling, the thug couldn't make a single move.

"H-how did you... but you were...?"

She shrugged. "Magic. I don't have to explain it."

The thug raised his hands and swallowed. "M-mercy?"

She giggled. "You'll be fine!" Pause. "You'll wake up eventually! SUNNY BLAST!" Then shot right at his face, sending him straight at the wall he just hit himself with a huge thud. As the unconscious thug slowly slid to the ground level, Sunset brought her hand to her face, blew on it as if it was a revolver, then formed a fist and smiled. "Nailed it!"

"He's getting away!"

Sunset looked at the store clerk, pointing at the backdoor to the store. Her eyes narrowed and a smile appeared on her face.

Outside, the robber leader ran as fast as he possibly could, using those precious few seconds his henchmen bought him. The plan was a bust, but if he could escape with what little loot he stuffed into his pockets, it would still...

"Sup!"

"AAAAH!" He screamed, as he saw the familiar figure that appeared right around the corner he ran into. "H-how? Why? What? When? H-how?"

She shrugged. "Like I said, magic. Deal with it. Aaaand now I wish I had sunglasses... such wasted opportunity!"

He pointed a gun right at her. "D-don't move any closer, or I-I'll..."

"Shoot me 'full'a holes' with that toy gun? What, you thought I didn't notice how you didn't shoot a single bullet? I played along to be a good sport," she moved a bit closer, while he yelled and stumbled backwards, landing on his bottom, dropping the plastic toy. She smiled devilishly and leaned over the terrified gangster. "Look, just give up. I promise I'll be gentle," she winked, then glanced back as a group of onlookers, including people from the store, started piling up around them "come on, help me out, buddy! It's my first time, can you make it look good? ...that didn't come out right."

The robber raised his hands high into the air. "I GIVE UP!"

Sunset smiled. "Good boy. Now," she extended her hand to him "I believe you have something that doesn't belong to you?" The thug swallowed and reached for his pockets, emptying it from all the loot he just stole from the store, nervously placing it all in her hands.

"Now lie down on your back and wait for police," she ordered and he nodded, doing as asked. She giggled at the sight, then turned around and approached the people from the store. "Here you go," she said, handing everything in her hands to the store clerk, except the black box, which she delivered straight into Rarity's hands. "And I believe this belongs to you?" The fashionista was at a loss of word, but she gladly accepted her box back, nodding in gratitude.

As both Rarity and Applejack slowly recovered from the shock, they heard murmurs coming around, including sounds of phones snapping pictures, for which she made a few cool poses. As the tension mellowed out, the magical girl struck another pose to formally introduce herself.

"Don't worry citizens, there is a new hero in town. You can sleep safely tonight, because I'm keeping watch. I am..." Another pose struck, a glittering red smoke appeared out of nowhere from behind her.

"MAGICAL GIRL SUNNY!"

Applause, along with more photo snapping, ensued. Rarity and Applejack exchanged their confused glances between each other, neither sure if they should do or say any anything. Meanwhile, Magical Girl Sunny made sure to greet the applause warmly, bowing a few times, but declining answering any questions or signing autographs. She quickly turned to the thug lying on the floor.

"Can you tell your buddies who I am, once they wake up?" She got a reluctant thumbs up from the criminal. "Thanks! It's time to leave, but don't worry- I'll be there when you need me next!"

"Bye, bye and sun'ya!" And then she disappeared in her own smoke.

Rarity blinked, switching her gaze between the smoking spot and her box. "Sun'ya?"

***

"She... she has powers?" Twilight asked. "I mean, beyond powers of friendship and transforming into--actually, this makes way more sense than I originally thought."

"Ah know, right?" Applejack shrugged. "Ah mean, all'a us have some magic inside, but Sunset Shimmer used ta be a magical unicorn b'fore. If anyone, it should'a be her!"

"What I don't understand," Rainbow Dash joined in "is why she didn't tell us anything? Why would she hide it from us?"

Fluttershy nodded. "And why didn't she tell any of us she's a superhero? I-I mean, I can only speak for myself, but wouldn't we all support her decision?"

Rarity nodded as well. "And where did she get that amazing dress?" Pause. She quickly noticed a few bemused glances shot at her. "What, it's a valid question! You don't get designs like these in a thrift store!"

Applejack, along with others, only rolled their eyes in response. "Ah wanted to ask her mahself, but she ain't answerin' her phone."

"So, we have to ask her when she gets here?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

Rarity nodded. "It would seem so. Until then we'll just have to wait for her to appear, however long it would ta--"

"Hey girls!" Sunset Shimmer suddenly appeared and greeted their friends.

"--...okay, that was fast," she coughed, and smiled at her friend "Sunset, darling, how was your weekend? You didn't answer our calls."

"Yeah, sorry about that," she scratched her head laughing, oblivious to the suspicious staring "I left my phone charger at the band practice. Not that I needed it. I spent the entire Sunday binging on Netflux. My free month ends on Wednesday and I still have a few seasons to go through and I don't feel like paying 15 bucks a--"

"Really, now? You didn't leave your house this entire time?"

"Nope, I haven't moved from my apartment since Saturday evening till this morning. Don't worry, Rarity, I found time to take a shower, I swear!"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Yeah, likely story...about leaving, not showering!"

Sunset tilted her head in confusion, but didn't get a chance to ask when she was bombarded by questions.

"Not even for a small walk to, say... a Jewelry Store?"

She shook her head, one eyebrow lifted. "Wha-- why would I--"

"Nothing 'magical' happened?"

"Not that I'm aware o--"

"No unusual events?"

Sunset blinked. "Uh..."

"You were alone all this time?"

She looked around her friends, only now noticing the attention she was getting. She swallowed. "Yeah, just me and my laptop, why wou--"

"So nobody can vouch for you?"

"Vouch? What are you talking about?" She looked over everyone, sweat pouring from her head. "Did I miss something?"

The conversation was stopped when Applejack violently stood up, slamming the table with both of her hands.

"Sunset, stop foolin' around!" She loudly exclaimed, her voice just barely below the yelling threshold. "Just explain what da deal with Magical Girl Sunny is already?"

As Rarity coughed angrily at Applejack's latest outburst (which the farmer quietly apologized for in a moment), the rest of the group patiently awaited Sunset Shimmer's reaction.

"...what?" That one word and a confused frown was all they managed out of her.

Rainbow Dash grabbed Pinkie Pie's phone and showed its contents to Sunset Shimmer. "Well, care to explain that?"

Time seemed to stop, as Sunset Shimmer carefully looked at the picture, her eyes growing wider every second. She grabbed the phone in her own hands and put it closer to her face, as her eyes started twitching nervously.

"W-what the...?"

***

It used to be just a shortcut. It saved a minute of walking at most, whenever she went shopping. It wasn't anything special: trees, grass and large open areas were plenty even in big cities. But somehow, it felt different and it's been like this past few days, every day. The bright green leaves danced on the wind, trying to escape their respective trees way before their time. The aroma of freshly trimmed grass emanated in the air. Somewhere in the distance a few boys played soccer, using their jackets as provisional goals. There was even a lovely young couple, holding each other's hand, using the other hand to guide a stroller with their sleeping baby inside. As if the whimsical tone wasn't sugary enough, a tiny dog ran towards her, at first yapping loudly like small dogs do, but eventually settled on just looking at her, happily wagging its tail.

Coco Pommel never had a pet while growing up, nor were they allowed in her dorms. She couldn't help but smile warmly at the little thing and kneel down to stroke its head.

"Hey there, little one. Enjoying your walk?" She asked the dog, noticing the collar with a golden name tag on it. "Poppy, huh? Did you lose your master, Poppy?" She looked around the park and contemplated looking for the owner, but that wasn't necessary, as an old lady called and the dog obediently ran her way.

Slightly disappointed, Coco sighed and stood back up, casting one last glance at the park at large. It's so nice today, maybe I could just stay for a while, relax. As the chill breeze touched her skin, she looked at the bags in her hand. Later. I have work to do! Filled with new found resolve, she nodded to herself and ventured forth.

Crystal Prep's girls dormitory was located a few blocks away from the school proper. It was a large, four stories high building, housing hundreds of girls attending Crystal Prep High. The boys dormitory was located a few blocks away from the school in the other direction, probably to decrease the temptation of youth. (Not the least sensible idea, if you think about it) She found a lot of students walking in and out of the building, as well as some groups hanging out by the stairs. And in one of those groups was her: a purple skinned girl with curly hair a few shades darker than her skin.

Suri... Coco swallowed and hesitated for a moment, before taking a deep breath and marching forward, doing her best to act natural and avoid being spotted. She kept her breathing as natural as possible, her eyes forward. All went well until Suri did notice her and their eyes met for a brief moment. She looked at Coco with contempt for a while, then turned away, humpfing loudly. Coco remained (almost) perfectly calm until she passed by her, at which point her pace increased. She quickly passed by the opened doors, stopping only once inside, exhaling heavily.

Of course she knew Suri wouldn't do anything. She wouldn't dare. Or rather, she didn't care enough to go through the trouble of bothering her ever again. She shook her head. No! Past is past! Present day beware- Coco Pommel has arrived! She took another deep breath of courage and went to her room on the third floor.

Once inside, she tossed her bags at her bed and booted up her laptop. The room was small, barely fitting two beds sitting across each other under the opposite walls, with two desks in between them and some space in the center, already occupied by something else. A female mannequin was dressed in what would soon become a fancy dress. But right now it was just a few hastily stitched fabrics, some frills here and there and a sketch of what it was potentially aiming to become taped to its face. Coco walked around it for a while, nodding and making mental notes. Yup, a cape would fit, she thought to herself, sketching that little detail... then erased and redrew parts of it, except half as long. I need to make it more maneuverable. This isn't just a decoration!

"A cape?" A voice sounded behind her.

"EEEP!" Nearly giving Coco a heart attack, making her fall on the ground.

"It's like you listen to me sometimes or something." She said, extending her hand to her.

Coco's breathing slowly regulated itself, though she couldn't help but look at the other girl with a little grudge. But only a little: she couldn't get too mad at her, especially when offered a helping hand. "Don't scare me like that!" She pouted, standing up with a little help. "I told you to knock!"

"This is my room too! Besides," she smiled slyly, leaning over the shy girl just low enough that they were at the same eye-level. "then I wouldn't be able to see those cute reactions of yours. And what kind of life would that be?"

Coco groaned and turned away, feigning offense, but they both knew she wasn't bothered by it in the slightest.

"So, how's the news spreading?"

Coco looked at the screen saver running on her laptop. How long was I working on the dress? She went to it and opened the MyStable page to find the appropriate numbers.

"It just passed one thousand likes! That's incredible!"

"Awesome! That calls for celebration, then! Do you wanna go somewhere, like a pizza? Or tacos or... Coco?"

Coco Pommel was busy browsing the fanpage, reading all the comments. Aside from a few down voted trolls and spam, all the comments were mostly positive, praising the heroic deeds, quirky personality and power set. Her heart warmed especially hot whenever she saw someone praising the dress. All was going well until...

"MEEP!" Coco recoiled when she felt a freezing sensation on her cheek. Donning another overblown pout, she turned to her roommate, who was holding a cold can of soda. "What's the big idea?!"

"Be careful or you won't notice when someone will steal you as you stand," she laughed and threw the can to her roommate.

Coco accepted the offensively cold can with a frown, but as always, she couldn't hold a grudge when it came to playful teasing like this. Whenever someone used to pick on her back in the day, it felt like a torture that she couldn't fight back. She wasn't strong and everyone knew it and took advantage of her meek personality. But when she did it, it felt different. It felt more genuine. Warm (no pun intended). Kind.

"Cheers!"

Coco bumped the other can with hers. "Cheers!"

Life became worth living since Sunset Shimmer became a part of it.

Author's Notes:

Bet you didn't see this coming, huh? Surprised? ...me neither. But can you blame me? The only thing better than Sunset Shimmer... is two of them!

So, some of you (those who follow me) might remember seeing this entry on my "Fics I won't write" blog. What can I say? I'm a big fat liar.

Also, fair warning for the future! Following the next chapter, the titles will have little to do with their contents, but I'll use the opportunity to highlight some magical girl stories, along with recommendations for you to read/watch. Or avoid. Not all are winners, but some of them don't get the credit they deserve. I speak from experience- I used to THINK I don't like the genre, but that was an old me. The old me who hated the idea of a certain cartoon about colorful horses with butt tatooes. Old me sucks.

Actually, back in the days I was a young me. He sucks. Old me is wiser. I don't know where I was going with this.