#flshfic

@mutated-green-things

#9 on my Spotify Wrapped was Masterpiece Theatre I, the opener for one of my all-time favorite albums. It's a rock opera about identity and fame—and I think the lyrics work really well for our identity-crisis Sunset Shimmer and our wannabe rockstar Rainbow Dash :) I would highly recommend this whole album for blorbo rotation pruposes.

“So…” Rainbow carefully plucked the strings of her guitar. Without power, they only made hollow twangs—the whole thing felt childish in her hands. Fitting, really. “We don’t really, uh… hang out a lot. Just the two of us.”

Sunset tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Guess not.”

Rainbow nodded. “Yup.”

She continued to pick gently at her guitar, not really playing so much as filling silence. She chewed the inside of her cheek. Her eyes drifted over to the lyrics clutched in Sunset’s hands and she tried, as coolly as possible, to read at least a few words.

If I burn out And slip away…

“Y’know, we don’t have to—”

“I’m sorry, this is so—” Sunset cut herself off, casting Rainbow a glance. “Weird.”

“I-it’s not weird!” Rainbow insisted, though a poorly-timed voice crack betrayed her.

Sunset sighed. “It is.”

“Well… that’s cool, then,” Rainbow said. “We can just let it be weird. Right?”

Sunset drew the lyric sheet closer to her chest. “Can we?”

“Sure! I just…” Rainbow released the neck of her guitar and swiveled it to her side. “Why me?”

Sunset blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Like, you could have asked Rarity,” Rainbow said. “She’s artsy and stuff. She’d be way better at the musical stuff. O-or Fluttershy—she’s so good with, uh… emotional junk. Or—”

“Remember when you first transformed?”

Rainbow paused. “Uh. You mean, like… the horse stuff?”

Sunset nodded.

“Sure.”

“You said something afterwards,” she went on. “You said, um… it was almost weirder not having the wings.”

Rainbow reached up to scratch the back of her head with one hand. “I did? Jeez.”

Sunset was quiet. She picked at the seam on her skirt with one nail, though not with destructive intent. Rainbow only watched her fingers twist and tug at the fabric. 

She had noticed the way Sunset… was. About a lot of things, but especially about herself. Her body, she supposed. She tended to change her clothing style suddenly and drastically—not something Rainbow would typically notice, so she guessed it must have been pretty extreme to catch her eye. She was pretty good-looking, but avoided photos. And mirrors, on occasion. Sometimes Rainbow would catch her in class just staring at her open palms and slowly curling her fingers inwards, one at a time.

Sunset’s grip on the lyric sheet relaxed and the paper crinkled as it expanded. She held it out to Rainbow Dash. “This is about… changing,” she said. “And I just thought you’d get it, y’know? More than the other girls.”

Rainbow silently took the paper.

You’re beautiful, can I hide in you awhile? But this is just a part I portray… And this is just a part I portray…