GreentextSavant - Sunset Shimmer

>All six of the mane 6 head over to the local Hooter's in one car.
>Rarity gazes out the window the whole time, bored, while the other simply chat for the entire way there.
>They make it there, and Sunset notices their car outside in the parking lot immediately.
>She can't duck and cover with a tray of food in her hand. She looks around to find no method of escape.
>Luckily, she passes behind a wall by the time the mane six enter through the front doors. They're seated and are told their waitress will be right with them.
>GUESS WHO IT IS?
>"H-hi... welcome to Hooter's! My name is Sunset and I'll be serving you today!" Sunset does the best she can to pretend not to know them in front of everyone else.
>She's pretty much dying a little on the inside at this point.
>And the stares the mane six give... boy, are they ever-damning. They have never been so red in the face and pale in the face at the same time.
>Except for Pinkie, of course. She's facing in the completely opposite direction so Sunset doesn't see her mile wide smile.
>But she shoulders jolt up and down from the laughter, and the reflection in the polished window gives her involuntary squinting and toothy smirk.
>Trained to do so, Sunset swallows the humiliation and forces her own smile to remain on her face JUST a little bit longer until she's done taking the order and scurries out of sight.
>Everyone just ordered lemonade for starters. Nothing else could come to mind.
>"You mean you know all of them?" Sunset's manager questions his employee.
>Sunset silently nods.
>"Well, I'm sorry. You should have told me this earlier before I officially assigned you to serve them. We can't just swap waitresses out of the blue like that." He lowers his tone. "Tell you what. Just deal with it this one time, and you can head home a little bit early. You still get full pay for the extra shift. I'll get Trixie to fill in for ya."

>She has to go back to the table.
>What happens next?
>"Alrighty... so are we all ready to order." Sunset saw her friends hastily whispering to eachother before she got very close to the table.
>They all awkwardly exchange glances, not having opened their menus.
>It's clear what it was they were whispering about before Sunset returned to within hearing range.
>"C-can we have more time?" Twilight blushes heavily, but nowhere nearly as much as Rainbow Dash.
>No one in the entire town is blushing as much as Rainbow Dash at this moment.
>"Sure thing!" Sunset clicks the pen and heads off to another table she's assigned to.
>"Pinkie! Stop it!" Twilight sharply scolds the giggling girl at the window.
>"She probably saw already. So ah suggest you apologize at some point, Pinkie."
>Pinkie Pie wipes a tear from her eye. "Sorry, girls. It's just..." She chortles a little more. "I totally didn't see this coming!"
>Rarity straightens her back and hops onto her high horse. "I see nothing wrong with this. Working here was Sunset's choice, and I wholeheartedly respect that."
>"Exactly!" Twilight agrees. "Sunset's our friend. And we have to support her decision no matter what. I mean, there's nothing wrong with working in a place where... well, you know..."
>Rainbow Dash quietly grunts with her legs crossed.
>Fluttershy stares at the table, and keeps her eyes glued there with no intention of looking up for even a half a second.
>"It's a great place to work. The food here is great, there's a very positive atmosphere, along with a very specific theme, is all." Twilight continues, trying not to compare herself to the other waitresses who are clearly more developed than her. "I'm happy for Sunset. And we should tell her so once she comes back. There's no sense in dragging this out and not breaking the ice."

>Rainbow Dash also finds herself checking out the waitresses, but for different reasons.
>The reasons why she came here in the first place.
>"Just figure out what y'all wanna order so we can get through this." Applejack brings up.
>Everyone chooses their dishes.
>Steak for Applejack, footlong subway sandwich for Rarity, salad for Fluttershy, soup for Twilight, burger and fries for Pinkie Pie and buffalo wings for Rainbow Dash.
>Sunset writes it all down, getting the vibe that there's something Twilight wants to tell her.
>"Erhm..." Nervousness overcomes Twilight. "Nothing. Thanks."
>Sunset nods and walks away once more with the paper in her hand. Now the mane six have more time to converse.
>"Listen, one of us has to tell her it's okay." Applejack tries to convince one of the other girls to address the elephant in the room.
>"Why can't you?" Twilight asks.
>"Ah can't help it. It's just that... I'm not used to being in restaurants like this one where the waitresses are so... revealing, is all. I don't think there's anything wrong with it, but it's just too awkward for me."
>"Well, if you're not going to say anything, then I will." Rarity offers, hardly blushing at all at this point.
>Applejack continues to make her case. "I'm sorry, y'all. If this were Texas Roadhouse like I'm used to, then it would be a totally different story. But... ah guess I'm out of my element. I'm more of a traditional girl who focuses more on modesty. And ah know that at least most of y'all are a little awkward about this too!"
>Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy stare straight down at the table.
>"Oh, I'll apologize. Promise!" Pinkie reassures. "I want Sunset to be happy with her job, and I want her to know that I'm happy for her too. You've got my back, Rarity."
>Several minutes of discussion later, and the group falls silent.

>Rainbow Dash keeps her legs crossed, noticing Trixie across the aisle serving another table. All of the mane six see her.
>A watered down version of the awkward moment ensues, but not for Trixie.
>She just kindly waves to them.
>35 more minutes later.
>Dinner is served...
>And heeeere... you... go." Sunset carefully loads the dishes off of the tray.
>Twilight looks over at Rarity, who's more than ready to speak once Sunset is done serving the table.
>"Sunset, I would just take a moment to say that I think it's wonderful that we have a friend working here. What a coincidence you were assigned to out table, is it not?" Rarity calmly sparks a short conversation.
>Pinkie Pie joins in immediately. "Yeah, uh, sorry I was giggling earlier. I was just so excited to see you here."
>"Oh..." Sunset lowers her shoulders and sighs in the beginning of relief. "I uh... thanks. And it's no big deal, Pinkie. I know you mean well."
>She prays that they say more. Something to at least show that they can put this past them and move on.
>That's all Sunset wants at this point, after this amount of time that has felt like literally hours.
>"So how long have you been working here?" Rarity persists. "This place looks like it gets a lot of business." She scans the packed tables and booths.
>"Oh, uh... couple of months."
>The very atmosphere in the room warms up little.
>This was all it took for everyone except for Fluttershy to comfortably converse for a little bit before Sunset has to go to the next table she's serving.
>It isn't hard for the group to work in a chance for everyone to speak.
>"G-good job, Sunset." Fluttershy stutters quietly before her friend walks away.
>That was it.
>Sunset expected some sort of trainwreck to happen, but this whole thing didn't take much at all.
>The mane 6 enjoy their meals and head off once they're done with dessert.

>Sunset waves them off as they go out the door, getting ready to tell her manager that she's okay with staying for the rest of her shift anyway.
>"You sure?" Sunset's manager responds after being informed.
>"Yeah, I was just having a bit of an awkward moment. Nothing too big. So any tables for me to do next?"

>”Uh...” Sunset stares at the glossy eyes manager before he walks away.
>Half of her expected this, since she’s seen it happen to a lot of the other employees as well.
>This guy oughtta get fired at some point.
>The real feeling of relief comes in as Sunset finishes her shift and heads home, knowing that the mane six at lest left before her encounter with her boss.
>…
>”Hey, can I talk to you for a second?” Twilight starts off. “It’s just to clear things up.”
>”Sure” Sunset sits down.
>”I just want to make sure you know that I’m very proud of you for landing a job there no matter what. I know you might worry about it being otherwise, but none of us are going to judge you.”
>Sunset smiles warmly.
>”I’m very sorry if any of us gave you the impression that it was a little frowned upon to work there.”
>”What do you mean?”
>”Well, I do remember a while back that rarity mentioned that only deplorable people masquerade themselves like that.”
>”Oh…” Sunset sighs. “That.”
>”I just don’t want you to feel like you’re being frowned upon. I’m sure the fact that you’re her friend is something hat will make her look past that.”
>”Well, I’m not really bothered by what Rarity said. If anything, she’s kind of right. In a way.”
>”Aw, don’t say that.”
>”Well… here’s the thing.” Sunset leans closer to Twilight.
>She tells her about how her boss treats her, and makes Twilight promise not to tell any of the others.
>Twilight immediately seems to be worried and concerned. “Oh my gosh, but like, can’t you report him or something?”
>”Well… it’s not that bad.” Sunset tries to keep the situation from blowing up.
>”No, it’s not. What he’s doing is treating you like deplorable people. And the whole Idea is that you’re not deplorable for doing what you do. It’s not right, and it’s harassment anyway.”

>”None of the girls seem to mind though. It was just me who kind of cared at first because of… well…”
>Twilight hesitates. “You… sure?” She keeps in mind that something still had to motivate Sunset to bring it up in conversation.
>”Yes.”
>The two nod it off, agreeing that Sunset had just been a little self-conscious about what Rarity said before, and that’s what caused her to not be okay with the "culture” where she works.
>…
>A week later.
>Sunset is doing her usual serving tables at the restaurant. She noticed Rainbow Dash come here at least twice ever since the mane six’s last group visit.
>”Good news, girls!” Sunset’s manager announces to the waitresses during the group meeting. “We have a new young lady here with us!”
>He steps to the side to reveal Rarity standing behind him.
>”Hello, Darlings.” Rarity greets her new co-workers.
>The introductions are short lived before everyone gets to work.
>Sunset notices something different.
>Her manager doesn’t seem to be eyeing her or a lot of the other waitresses as much today.
>There’s a point where Rainbow Dash enters the restaurant for a platter of hot wings. Rarity insists that she be the one to serve her; to surprise the girl.
>About an hour and a half later after her meal, Rainbow Dash happily left the restaurant with a nosebleed.
>”I just wanted to tell you something, darling.” Rarity approaches Sunset at the end of her shift.
>”Y-yeah?”
>”I just wanted to let you know that… I didn’t really mean what I said before.”
>Sunset smiles at her. “Is that why you applied to work here?”
>”Well…” Rarity playfully twirls her hair in her finger. “That’s one of the reasons.”
>Sunset stares at her, confused.
>”You see… Twilight may have mentioned something you told her.”
>”Wh-what?” Sunset gasps.

>”Don’t worry about it, darling! The secret’s safe with me! And I originally wanted to know whether or not that goes on around her for… different reasons.”
>”What kinds of reasons?”
>”Just reasons, darling.” Rarity concludes. “Anyway, I’ll be seeing you, since it is the end of your shift and all. Just wanted to let you know that.”
>They say goodbye and Sunset leaves for the night.
>Rarity then goes to meet with the manager to hear about how she did on her first day.
>”You’re a natural, Miss Rarity.” He compliments with the widest smile. “It was a wise move to hire you as quickly as I did. Everyone who came in and were served by you seemed very pleased with your performance.”
>”Thank you, sir.” Rarity responds.
>”So great job.” He walks past her and gives her a slap on the behind. “See you tomorrow.”
>”Is something wrong,g darling?“ Rarity turns around, grabbing his attention.
>”Hmm?”
>”Aren’t you going to grab and hold onto it?” She suggests with a lip bite.
>The manager sighs ever so happily. “I’m so glad I hired you.”