Sunset sat alone in the darkness of her bedroom. Her breathing was shallow but calm. She wasn't crying, for she had no more tears to shed. She had two notes clutched in her grip. She was shocked out of her stupor as an alarm on her phone went off. She jumped up and wiped at the dampness lingering under her eyes before reaching for her phone to shut off the incessant ringing. She stood and crossed around the bed where a few bags were stored. She heaved them onto her back with a groan. She folded the notes separately and sealed them with a small piece of tape. She then pocketed her phone and quickly left her apartment, keys in hand.
***
It was early on a Saturday morning, and fog clung heavily to the pavement. Sunset's breath plumed in front of her. It was too cold for early March. Nevertheless, she pressed on. She made her way to the school. Just the sight of it made bile crawl up her throat and anxiety pool inside of her. Too many bad memories were here, and they all flickered through her brain.
The first time she'd come, thrown out of the portal and onto the cold cement, now trapped alone in a new body.
All of the different ways she'd blackmailed people. All of the times she'd hurt people. The memory of being corrupted by the crown stung, and the memory of being hit by the elements was tearing into her skin, ripping her from her. Her hands ached as she saw herself replacing each and every brick. She remembered Twilight, how happy she'd been, and then watched as she'd stolen magic from all of her... friends. Her friends. The shouts tore their way through her mind. She wasn't welcome. She wasn't their friend. Not their friend. Not their friend not their friend not their frien-
She broke out of her trance at the sound of the portal lighting up behind her. She glanced at the rippling magic covering the marble. It called to her, but she still had something she needed to do. She steeled her shoulders and walked away from the portal, climbing up the stairs to the front doors. She reached in her pocket and plucked out the key ring. She separated them until she found the right one and inserted it into the door. She jiggled it a few times and it unlocked. She smiled, glad they hadn't changed the locks.
When she'd had to rebuild the front of the school, the janitor didn't want to show up on the weekends to let her in. He'd tossed her the key ring, and when she asked why he'd given her all of them, he'd simply responded with 'you say you've changed? Show us.' That had stuck with her. He'd never asked for the keys back and every time she'd tried to give them back, he'd make up some excuse and leave before she could give them back. Every time she left them in the janitors closet, they always found their way back to her desk when she'd walk into class the next day. She was thankful she'd had them now. She roamed the half lit halls until she found her way to her calculus class. She crouched down and slid the first note under the door.
It had just been a simple thank you for everything she'd done for the past years. For believing in her. For helping her. She'd left a generic $50 gift card inside. It was all she had. The next place she went was to AJ's locker. She knew the combo, but she instead opted to slide the folded sticky note through the slits in the upper half. She crossed the hall to the janitors closet and hung up the keys one last time. She wouldn't be there to get them back. Her last destination in the school was the Principals office. This one wasn't going to be slid under the door. She unlocked the door and walked inside. It was a modest and tidy office. She didn't go through anything, but instead just set the folded note in the center of the desk. With her final task done, she made her way swiftly out of the office and out of the school.
The doors locked automatically, so she didn't need to worry about leaving them open all weekend. She heard them click shut behind her and she hesitated a moment, hand on the cold metal. She rested her head against the glass and said her final goodbyes to the school. Despite all the terrible memories, she had some good ones here too. She remembered laughing so hard at lunch with her friends that she'd almost thrown up. Convincing the librarians to let her stay late to study and having the entire library to herself. Exciting debates in her English class. The times she'd fallen asleep at a library table, crowded with books and her friends. All of the lunches spent outside, eating in the sunshine and sitting on the grassy hills.
She sighed and stepped away from the door. She was finished. As she walked away, she had the strangest sense of lifting. It was like some chain that had been holding her here, to all of the bad memories and misery, had been severed. She was leaving everything she'd called home for the past five years behind, and she couldn't be happier about it. A simple sense of happiness filled her. For the first time in a long time, she felt simply...okay. Not overwhelmingly happy, but she was okay with all of the bad things. She'd done what she could and she was leaving them behind.
She walked confidently towards the portal. The colors swirled before her. She could sense the magic coming from it. She'd missed that feeling. It embraced her willingly, like welcoming an old friend. It recognized her as a being of magic. She was just about to step into the portal when a sound snatched her attention away.
"Sunset?"
The voice was timid and unsure. Sunset glanced towards it and stopped. Twilight, this world's Twilight was standing a few yards away. She was bundled in a sweater and scarf. Pens stuck out of her pockets and notebooks weighed down her arms. Spike sat behind her, peering around her legs. Sunset took a few steps back and she felt the pull of the magic lessen slightly.
"Twilight. What are you doing here?" she asked, adjusting her bags. Twilight swallowed and held her notebooks a little higher and gesturing to the portal.
"The portal hasn't been active for months. I guessed it would light up today, so I came early in hopes of getting here to observe it in private..." she trailed off, eyes wandering to the rippling magic. Sunset smiled.
"Of course you were. I'm sorry, I was just about to leave" she said with a tight grin. Twilight glanced between her, the portal, and her loaded bags. Her violet eyes shone with understanding.
"Are you... are you going through the portal?" she asked in bewilderment. "No no no, you can't do that! We don't know what'll happen, or where it goes! You could be trapped or killed, or or o-" She stammered as she quickly shuffled through her notes. Sunset cut her off with a raised hand.
"It's okay, Twilight. I... I know where it goes, so don't worry" she confessed. She had been staring at the ground and glanced up. Twilight glared at her, confusion and anger mixing on her face.
"You knew?" she took a step towards Sunset. "You knew and you never told me? This portal and what it does has been my life for years!" She threw her notebook on the ground. Spike whimpered.
"uuh, Twilight..." he whined. Twilight ignored him.
"You saw what my desire for this knowledge did to me, and you still never told me?" She was screaming now, face red with anger. Sunset just stood there and took it. She wasn't sure what else she could do. She stared at the ground between them. A few tears dripped down her face, trickling off of her nose. She was strong. She could take this. That didn't mean it didn't really hurt. While she was staring at the ground, she heard a few footsteps approaching. She glanced up and the breath left her body in one fell swoop. She took a few steps back and turned, combing a hand through her hair.
"Sweet Celestia, this is just great." she snarled. She felt like someone was driving a knife into her gut and twisting. "What do you five want? What, all of you just coming to yell at me now?" She glared at them, looking like a cornered animal. AppleJack stepped up, holding up her hands.
"Just calm down, Sunset. Twilight messaged us a few minutes ago, saying she saw you coming out of the school" she held up her phone and Sunset scanned the message.
"What? So you all came here to... what, exactly?" she stepped away when AppleJack tried to place a hand on her shoulder. Twilight spoke up.
"Hold on a second, we're not finished yet. You never told me. Why?" she questioned, still angry. Rarity stepped forward.
"Told you what?" she asked gently, placing a hand on her arm. Twilight shrugged her off angrily and Rarity pulled back as if she'd been hit. Fluttershy gripped her pale hand and squeezed it comfortingly. "She- she's from.. from there" she spat with disgust, pointing at the portal. Sunset glared at her, defense building a wall in her chest.
"There is my home. My real home" Sunset hissed, taking a step towards the portal. Before she could get too close to it though, a pink hand shot out from the crowd and wrapped around her forearm. She looked up and met the owners shimmering blue eyes.
"Don't leave us, Sunny. Please." whispered Pinkie. Her hair just barely held a wave. Sunset felt some of her anger seeping away. She let her arm slip out of the grasp until she was barely gripping her fingertips. She looked around the circle of girls. Some of the gazes were angry, some were sad, but only one was desperate. She tugged on Pinkie and pulled her into a tight hug.
"Goodbye, Pinkie" she whispered. And before any of them could register what was going on, Sunset slipped through the portal.
Ooohh uncharted territory since most stores of anon dont have return to equastria a thing a near thing some times but not a 100% thing. One thing tho i thought anon-a-miss happened before friendship games?
8388028
Yeah, I think it did. I'm honestly not sure. I'm not really following the EQG timeline. I'm just writing as I see things happening.
8388033
ok that works. are we going to see the notes?
8388037
Sort of. We will be seeing Celestia's in the next chapter, as well as the one she left the girls. The one she left for Ms. Abbott was just a generic thank you for everything she's done for Sunset. Hope that helps!
8388042
yep
Quick tip, if you include SciTwi, you need to at some point explain how she fits in. She wasn't around in the first three chapters and suddenly appears here, apparently having gone through Friendship Games but not knowing what's on the other side of the portal (she saw Equestria when tearing apart dimensions and met princess Twilight). It can work, just the differences need to be explained or at least hinted at at some point. Otherwise, interesting chapter.
8388048
The way I'm writing this is almost as an AU. They know scitwi, but I feel like they don't bring up the friendship games. Bad memories and such. And twilight, going to a different school, wouldn't be around much. It's not like she and sunset are besties, so she wouldn't really seek out Twilight. And Twilight only leaves her house if it has something to progress her studies (aka the portal). I'm not sure if that helps, but I'm not strictly sticking to the EQG universe. Sorry :/
8388028
Actually, I read one where Sunset went to Equestria to stay for good.
I find it strange that Pinkie Pie was the one that looked desperate and not Applejack. At first, when Twilight showed up, I thought Princess Twilight came through the portal because she was worried what was taking Sunset so long. What's SciTwi doing there?
8388107
So in this 'verse, SciTwi never transfers to CHS? Which means no one ever bothered telling her about Anon-A-Miss and what her 'friends' did to Sunset.
8388117
Read that one note i said most and from what i recall on that story we mostly see the point from the human side
8388125
basically, yes. I imagine that, as none of them really hang out, No one even thought to tell scitwi. She's kinda been off doing her own thing and only came out to check the portal. I feel like she doesn't have memories of her time as Midnight, or at least not very clear ones. IDK fam :/ I hope this helps.
8388042
Will Sci Twi find out what happened to Sunset as well, and why she left?
8388529
Hmm... we'll see about that ;)
8388534
I hope so, i udnerstand why Sci Twi is furious, but, with what happened, it must of been hard for Susnet to tell her the truth, so instead it seems she choose to break it off and make it easier for her forget her.
If Ranbow was one of those mad I hope she gets suckered punch by AJ, she has no right to be uspet, she perfer to pretend she was ok with how things went.
I'm also hoping it was Aj who was the one that had desparte eyes.
A fitting farewell. It feels like a series finale. It was interesting to see Sci-Twi angry.
It was either Shy or Pinkie that had the desperate look. Also, RD deserves to have her teeth kicked in.
the last chapter is okay, but i'm kinda having trouble following the story arc. Also, why the hell would Sunset hug Pinkie if she wants them to stay away from her?
8389038
Because some part of her still loves them. Pinkie begged her to stay, and was the one with the desperate look. Sunset knew that her leaving would hurt Pinkie, so she gave her one last bit of comfort before she left.
8389687
not that pinkie or any of them deserved even that, they don't have the right to ask her to stay, they didn't have the right to be there at all.
8388033
it does, it takes place after rainbow rocks
"You knew?" she took a step towards Sunset. "You knew and you never told me? This portal and what it does has been my life for years!" She threw her notebook on the ground. Spike whimpered.
"uuh, Twilight..." he whined. Twilight ignored him.
Um, the Human world's version of Spike DOESN'T talk, it's basically just a dog that doesn't talk.
8398358
Actually at the end of friendship games, he can.
8398537
Oh I forgot that.
I was also certain that this was between Battle of the Bands and the Friendship Games.
8398807
It's not.
8402180
needs more
I can't wait until the rest! I can't believe i'm actually mad at the cmc though...
8524887
Most likely
8524887
The ways I imagine it is that AJ has a huge crush on her and they'd been flirting for awhile. Aside from that, they were also best friends and extremely close. They were not dating, but were very close. Hope that helped!
8553898
it did
Please continue the story
And it continues! What'll happen to Sunny as she returns to Equestria? How will the girls react to Sunny leave right before their eyes, and what will they do? Find out next time, on 'The End.'
'Some'? I understand Twilight was angry cos Sunset didn't tell her all the details about the portal and she's from the other side, but who else would be angry and WHY THE F*CK SHOULD THEY BE ANGRY WHEN THEY DROVE SUNSET TO COMMITTING SUICIDE?!
Woah this is intense, I hope you continue it! No rush of course
Thanks for all of your kind comments! I'm working on a new chapter as I'm posting this.
Very nice, I'm enjoying the portrayal that sometimes even apologies are too painful to be heard. Eager for more of what you've got.
Had this set as tracked but the update did not show up. Only just found it now. Oh well.
I feel like Sunset would have filled SciTwi in on Equestria. Other than that, this is pretty good. I look forward to seeing how it proceeds from here.
Alright.
Here I am, to comment about one of my favourite stories, one that I've read countless times and never got bored of, a story that holds much, where there is a Sunset-Applejack relationship (I'm addicted to that stuff), and a homecoming taht should be good enough.
Can't wait to know what's in Sunset's letter to Applejack.
I think many MANY people already asked you this, but does a "hiatus" happened between "Mourning" and "First Day - Secrets cause Tension"? Liken the Friendship Games? Because (but I don't blame or intend being harsh), you have to admit it makes it "Alternate Universe" and breaks the story a bit, because if Sunset is still struggling with the pain since the few months and then intend to leave after they've met EqG Twilight, how could she has been fully forgiven by the school and being with her friends, plus her attitude during EqG3?
Anyway, and most importantly, because this story is so great, it makes it so worth to wait any next chapter. I'm really excited about the next chapter, even if it would be next year I wouldn't care (your story your rules right).
So, as long as it takes, I'll wait for it, by knowing to expect something that made me enjoy this story.
Keep going!
In the short description it's loneliness not lonelyness
Otherwise good story
8933877
It did thanks, great story btw
fiery feathers
sorry about the gender thing i really hope i didn't offend you or anything i would fell really bad i know how it fells.
They where really annoying me though if they had read the authors note they would have known and at some points they where being a huge dick so its no problem.
my sisters in university going in to be a doctor so i know how it feels to not have anytime to yourself.
thanks for replying though.
good luck in school and your test and great job on the story i would definitely recommend it to others
and i fixed it by the way
will definitely be looking foreword to more and will be reading more of your stories fiery feathers
8848466
Sorry I didn’t even see this comment until now. But yes, I do take a bit of an AU. Basically, the way I imagined it, is that the games don’t happen. They meet scitwi some other way. (Other inter school events, in public, etc.) and they all met before everything went down. Hope this helps a bit!
8934740
Aww no harm done! Thank you so much!!
8936836
Oh alright.
Well it helped so thanks (I don't know but if you intend to do a chapter with the meeting of Sci-Twi, I feel you would do it great ;).
Don't mind about seeing my comment only recently, I understand if you don't have time as before.
fiery feathers your welcome
8936840
Eta on the next chapter captain?
8979036
Within the next few days