Chapter 1: It's Come to This

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I can’t believe it’s come to this. I’ve tried and tried, but nothing works. No one believes a word I say and there is nothing I could do to gain anyone’s trust. Flash won’t even look in my general direction. Snips and Snails haven’t said two words to me since we finished repairing the school entrance. Even Princess Twilight’s Friends act differently around me. They try to include me, but they’re not trying very hard, except for Fluttershy. She’s a sweetheart. I bet she’ll be the only one that will miss me.

So, here I am. Standing on the edge of a bridge, looking down at my watery grave. It took me all day to realize that this is the right thing to do. Taking in one last deep breath, I started to think about how I got here. It’s a pretty depressing series of events that started when Princess Twilight returned to Equestria. Snips, Snails, and I were told to fix the entrance to the school.

**********

“C’mon girls,” Applejack said as she and her friends came up to me, “let’s help our new friend.”

“What?” Rainbow Dash shouted. “Why do we have to help? We didn’t make this mess!”

“Rainbow Dash,” Rarity said with a disappointed tone, “Sunset Shimmer is our friend. And I do not know about you, but I help my friends with difficult tasks.”

“Thanks guys,” I said, “but I made this mess and I have to clean it up.”

“Nonsense, Darling.”

“But Rarity, won’t that ruin your dresses?” Fluttershy said.

“Yes, but Pinkie Pie is already half way done, so there is no need to get dirty.”

I looked over to the entry way and saw that Rarity was right. Pinkie Pie had already finished about half the job and was already working on the other half. Snips and Snails were standing off to the side scratching their heads, just as confused as I was.

“How did she…” I asked.

“We don’t even know,” Applejack said.

The eight of us finished the job, but Snips and Snails didn’t really do anything. I didn't mind because I didn’t really want them to help. They weren’t in their right minds when they helped me get the crown. I promised them unimaginable power and who could resist that? By the time we finished, the dance was over the girls walked me home.

Home was just a building for me. Before I waked through the mirror, I used some magic to give myself an identity here. Everyone thinks I have a home, parents, a life before CHS, but it’s all fake. The only thing real was the house and everything in it. I said good-bye to my new friends and went inside.

I woke up the next morning just lying in my bed. I didn’t want to go to school. Why would I? I’m going to be a complete outcast. It might be better if I just never leave my house again. That was my plan until the doorbell rang. I thought about just staying in bed and hoping that they would just go away, but then it rang again and again and again.

“Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey!” Pinkie Pie said as I opened the door.

“What are you doing here?” I said.

“Duh,” Rainbow Dash said. “We’re want to walk to school with you.”

“Oh…” I said with a depressed look on my face.

“What’s wrong, sugar cube?” Applejack asked as she threw her arm around me.

“It’s just that…”

“You don’t think the other students will like you after years of spreading lies and rumors and break up friendship and then becoming a big red scary monster thingy and enslaved every student at CHS?” Pinkie Pie said in one breath.

“Pinkie Pie!” Rarity said.

“No,” I said after a sigh, “she’s right. It’s better if I just stay away from everyone.”

“Don’t be silly,” Rarity said. “You need to fix your reputation and you certainly cannot do that from your bed.”

I gave one more sigh and then walked back up to my room. It would be so easy to just climb into my bed and wait them out. There is no way that any of them would miss school for me. On the other hand, they were trying. The least I can do is entertain them. I got dressed, grabbed my school stuff, and the six of us walked to school.

The walk to school wasn’t that bad. Besides the others reminding me of my past “boo-boos”, as Rarity put it, the girls tried to include me. I say “tried” because they would start talking about something, realize that I’ve been silent, and then try to include me. At least they tried.

When we got to the front of the school, I could feel their stares. With every single step, it seemed like they were silently judging me. It felt like every word said, was something bad about me. At least Princess Twilight’s friends were there for me, or they tried to be. As we walked into the school, I got the feeling that the others students weren’t just talking about me, they were talking about the other girls as well.

The first bell rang, which means it would be the first time I would be alone in public since last night. Unfortunately, I don't have any classes with Princess Twilight’s friends. There was a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach that no one will accept me, and I was right. Everyone stayed at least one desk away from me and I again heard people talking about me. It even felt like the teacher was giving me a cold stare. This trend continued through my next two classes, but lunch was coming up and I could at least vent to Princess Twilight’s friends.

To my dismay, every girl had an excuse on why they couldn’t be there. Pinkie Pie and Applejack were helping Granny Smith in the cafeteria, Fluttershy was spending her time washing dogs at the animal shelter, Rarity was planning a fashion club meeting, and Rainbow Dash was running the soccer team though drills. I felt like they were all telling the truth, but I could see why they would lie. Needless to say, I was alone and the later it gets, the more bold teenagers are. This time, they weren’t even hiding their jokes and insults. I could clearly hear the rumors and every little thing said about me.

Things got worse as the school day went on. Within the first ten minutes of my fourth class, someone threw a note at the back of my head. The note told me that I should just stop showing up. I was a little used to it by now, so I crumpled it up and threw it aside. I wish I could say this was a rare occurrence, but I got a similar note in every class. It got a little harder to shrug it off, but the fact that I could put my feet up and keep my bag off the ground helped.

When the final bell rang, I tried to make my way to the front of the school without drawing attention to myself. Lucky for me, the school clears out pretty quickly, so I didn’t have to sneak around or anything. When I got to the front, Fluttershy was the only one waiting for me.

“Where’s everyone else?” I asked

“Oh well, Applejack had to run home to do chores and Rainbow Dash-”

“I get it,” I interrupted, “they all have excuses. Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”

“It’s alright. How was your day?” She asked me as we started walking.

“Terrible.”

“Oh my.”

“All day they were talking about me and someone threw this at the back of my head.” I handed Fluttershy one of the notes someone threw at me. She read it and a look of horror came over her face.

“I’m so sorry,” she said as she gave me a hug.

“Thanks, but it’s not your fault. I did this to myself and I have to take my medicine.”

“That’s mature of you. But, if you ever need anything I’ll give you my number.”

“This is going to be a long process isn’t it?"

“Yes, but don’t worry Sunset Shimmer. Things will get better.”

But things didn’t get better. Every day was the same thing. Princess Twilight’s friends would convince me to go to school, students give me death glares, I would vent to the two or three girls I sat with at lunch, worse and worse notes were thrown at the back of my head. I tried to look on the bright side, but it was getting harder and harder for each day. Fluttershy was always there for me, however. She would always tell me that she was there for me and things will get better over time.

A few weeks later, it had come to the point where I didn’t want to get out of bed anymore. Not even Pinkie Pie ringing my doorbell a thousand times could get me of bed. On the bright side, I was right. If I waited long enough, then they would leave. It hurt a little that not even Fluttershy was willing to wait for me. That’s when I realized it. No one wants me. I’m just taking up space and getting in everyone’s way. I’m just a problem that needs to go away.

**********

Standing on the ledge of the bridge, I thought about how happy everyone will be when I’m gone. They won’t have to remember what I did or if I would do it again or if I’m planning something. I can finally solve a problem instead of causing one. I looked down at the running river below and smiled. Finally, I closed my eyes and took one step forward.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Someone shouted as they grabbed me and pulled me back. I opened my eyes and to find that I fell back into a boy with his arms warped around my stomach.

“What’s your problem?” I asked as I fought to free myself. He did let go and we both stood up. “You think it’s funny to just grab girls like that?”

“You think it’s funny to play with your life like that? What would your family and friends think?”

“I…I don’t have any family and friends.” I grabbed my right arm and looked at the ground.

“That’s not true. What about those five girls that walk with you to school?”

“They’re not my…wait, how did you know I was hanging around Princess Twilight’s friends?”

“I go to CHS too.”

“Oh…”

“Look, if it makes you feel any better, I don’t think any less of you for what you did. You were probably just influenced by that crown.”

“Thanks for your concern, but it didn’t. I was consumed by power.”

“But, you’re not anymore right?”

“No,”

“Then leave the past in the past. Who you are now shouldn’t be overshadowed by the person you used to be.”

“Look, it doesn’t matter who I am now. I was a problem and I still am. All I was trying to do was solve a problem and you stopped me. And why? Why didn’t you let me do one thing right for once?”

“Because I-”

“I know why. It’s because you wanted to be my knight and shining armor. You were hoping that if you saved me, then I would get weak in the knees. If you saved me, then you wanted me to jump into your arms, wrap my legs around you, and give you the biggest kiss of your life.”

“Sunset, I-”

“If it's not that then I guess it’s because you wanted to make fun of me.”

“I told you I don’t care about that.”

“Then why? Why would you ever save me?”

“Because Princess Celestia asked me to!” What he said stunned me. Princess Celestia sent him to save me? “I worked for the royal guard when you went through the mirror. She knew what you were doing and asked me to follow you. It’s my job to make sure that you were okay and help you if you ever wanted to go back.”

“Who are you?” I asked after a moment of silence.

“Sky Light.”

I thought back to my time with Princess Celestia. Sky Light was only in training when I first met him and we didn’t really say much to each other. After that, I would only see him in passing talking and smiling with his friends.

“Are you going to be okay?” He asked me.

“I…I don’t think so. Everyone still hates and there’s nothing I can do about it. I tried being nice and helping them, I tried staying out of people’s way, there is nothing I can do to change their minds.”

“There’s nothing you can do, but what if you didn’t have to do it alone?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I can help you fix your relationship with everyone at the school. They won’t listen to you, but they might listen to me.”

“I don’t want you to waste your time.”

“I want to help you Sunset. I’ve seen who you’ve become and I like this girl. I know that if everyone got the chance to meet you, then they would like you too.” I started to smile and blush. No one has ever said anything like that to me before.

“Come on,” he said, “I’ll walk you home.”

“How do you know where I live?”

“Because Princess Celestia used a spell to give me a life here. She put my house right next to yours so I can keep a close eye on you. I’ve been living next to you for years.”

“Why haven’t I noticed you?”

“Just one of those faces I guess.”

The two of us walked next to each other in silence. I didn’t want to bring up what happened today and I felt like Sky wanted to forget it too. I spent most of the walking thinking of the impossible task he had just taken on. I don’t know how he was going to do it and I’m sure there is no way he could. He seems confident, however, and I don’t think he’s going to take no for an answer.

“See you tomorrow,” he said as we got to my doorstep. He gave me a smile and then started to walk off.

“Wait!” I said before he could get too far away. “Thank you for saving me.”

“I was just doing my job,” he said with another smile. “But I would have done it even if no one told me to.”

“Good night,” I said.

“Good night, Sunset.” I watched him walk over to his house and through the door. I stood at my front door thinking how it would be easy to walk back to the bridge and finish the job. A voice in my head told me to go back there and just jump, but I couldn’t. I realized that I now have someone fighting for me. And I’m not going to give that up.

Chapter 2: Sunrise

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Have you ever woken up and thought that maybe some part of the day before was part of your dream? The whole bridge thing yesterday seemed like a dream or something out of a book. A vulnerable girl about to take her life, saved by a mysterious boy and doesn’t want to sleep with her. Only in a book. It was a little nice knowing at least someone here cared about me, even if he is a stalker sent by Princess Celestia. He’s probably going to want to talk me to school today. Maybe I can wait him out too.

“I know you’re in there Sunset,” Sky said from my front yard. I really wish I didn’t sleep with the window open. “Might as well come out. I’m willing to skip school.”

I got out of bed and looked out the window. Sky was sitting on my porch with his backpack draped over one arm

“You know, some people might think you’re stalking me,” I said leaning out the window.

“Whatever,” he said looking up at me with a smile, “get dressed and come down here.”

I rolled my eyes at him and pulled myself back into my room. Part of me just wanted to wait him out, like I did with Princess Twilight’s friend. He is persistent, however, and I think he’s willing to wait. I got dressed and grabbed my school stuff. I opened the door and Sky stood up and smiled at me. He then walked towards a car parked outside my house.

“Is that yours?” I asked as I walked towards the passenger side door. If I knew more about cars, I could probably name the model, but I can tell it looked restored.

“Yeah,” he said unlocking my door, “I bought it last year. It was a complete wreck, so I was able to get it pretty cheap. I spent a good amount of time and money fixing it up.”

“Wow,” I said getting in and being even more impressed on how new the interior looked. “Where did you get the money for all of this?”

“Princess Celestia gave me a few bits when I came here,” Sky said as he started driving. “I got a job a few months into sophomore year. What about you? How have you been getting by?”

“One of the bags I took here was full of bits. Who knew that those things were worth so much here?”

Sky chuckled a little, but never took his eyes off the road. For someone who grew up with hooves, he was a pretty good driver. It was also the first time I got a real good look at him. He was a bit taller than most eighteen old boys and a noticeably thinner. His skin was a bit darker than Rainbow’s and his hair was pale blond. There were no real distinguishing features on his face, besides his eyes. His eyes were a bright red and almost reflective. There this gentleness about him that I found odd. You never get that feeling from a guard, as they need to portray that tough exterior.

We didn’t say much the drive there. Part of it was because I thought he could use the extra concentration, but it was mostly because I have no idea what to talk about. I really don’t want to talk about yesterday. We can’t really talk about our lives in Equestria. I was a student and he was a guard. If anything, he has more stories than I do. All I did was keep my hands to myself and played with the radio a little.

“So,” I said as we pulled into the school’s parking lot, “do you actually have a plan or are you just going in blind?” Sky had paid for one of the owned spots. At first I thought who would waste money on that, but then I realized he had the perfect spot, not too far away from the school and not too far away from the exit.

“I have a plan,” He said, putting the car into park.

“Care to tell me? It is my reputation after all.”

“Okay…my plan is to…”

“You don’t have a plan, do you?” I asked, opening the door and getting out of his car.

“Okay, I don’t have a plan, but I have an idea.”

“Alright,” I said rolling my eyes again. “Let’s hear it.”

“Let’s start with something small and get you a group of friends. And I know just the people.” We started walking towards the school and I could already hear the whispers and gossip.

“You’re talking about Princess Twilight’s friends aren’t you?”

“They’re the closest thing you’ve got to real friends. Besides, I saw the six of you having a good time fixing up the front of the school.”

“You have been stalking me,” I said scowling at him.

“Yeah because going to the Fall Formal and walking by the six of you is stalking. Anyway, they seem to like you and all we really need is for you to hang around them more.”

“There’s only one problem,” I said, “They don’t want to hang around me. I can never get all five of them to sit with me at lunch and it’s usually just Fluttershy who walks home with me.”

“Alright, so we-” Suddenly, Sky’s phone suddenly went off. “I’ve got to take this. Meet back up at lunch?”

“Sure…” I said, fearing what would happen once he’s gone.

“Cool, see you later Sunset,” he said answering his phone and walking away.

Part of me wanted to follow him just so I wouldn’t be alone. However, I didn’t want to ruin his reputation too and make people think he has a clingy girlfriend. People would probably think I put him under some spell or something. Looks like I’m going to have to go into this alone, again. Sometimes I wish I followed Princess Twilight back to Equestria. At least they’re more forgiving there.

Class was more or less the same. No one wanted to sit by me, but at the same time, everyone whispered just barley loud enough so I could hear them. However, they weren’t talking about me. Okay, they weren’t talking about just me. I heard they say something about Sky and Fluttershy. People were saying that Fluttershy thinks of me as a pet and that’s why she’s been nice to me or they were talking about Sky driving me to school. Thankfully, no one was talking about how I wasn’t there yesterday.

I struggled to get through to lunch. It seems that all missing a day really did was let them build their hatred. I got more hurtful notes thrown at me during class. These were some of the worst. I would rather not repeat them, but trust me, they were bad.

I tried to avoid the cafeteria in hopes of avoiding more death gazes, but I promised to meet Sky for lunch. I waited a while before walking in. When I decided it was time, I reluctantly walked into the cafeteria and tried to find Sky. I got a few stink eyes here and there, but most people were minding their own business. I found Sky sitting by himself eating his lunch. I walked over to him trying not to draw attention to myself. The stink eyes didn’t help as it felt like the entire school was watching me.

“Hey,” Sky said as I took a seat next to him. “How was your day?”

“Not any better than before. Why did you make me come back here?”

“Because you can’t just live your life being hated. Have you thought of anything to help with our Operation: Friendship?”

“Operation: Friendship?” I asked, almost completely annoyed.

“I thought it made the whole thing seem fun.”

“Dork,” I said rolling my eyes.

“It’s a mystery why you don’t have any friends,” he said sarcastically. “So I take it you didn’t come up with anything?”

“I was too busy ignoring the people who go out of their way to make sure I know they hate me.”

“Lucky for you I’m here. I’ve got an idea that could boost your reputation so quickly those stink eyes you’re getting right now become friendly smiles.”

“How do you plan to pull off that miracle?”

“You didn’t hear it in the morning announcements?”

“I don’t pay attention to those things.”

“Then meet me outside of room 107 after school. You’re going to love this.”

“Wait, what are you going to do to me?”

“I’m not going to do anything. Maybe you should play attention to the morning announcements like a good student.”

“What if I don’t show up?”

“That’s fine, but then you’ll continue being hated by the school.”

“You’re not giving me a choice, are you?”

“Not really. Anything else you want to talk about? Seen any good movies or heard any good songs lately?”

“Not really. I don’t get out much and I don’t think you’ll like the music I listen to.”

“What about your time in Equestria?”

I didn’t want to think he wanted to hear about my time with Celestia. Why would he? It was mostly studying and learning spells, which are now useless. My life before Princess Twilight was all work and no fun, so I didn’t have anything to talk about.

“Why would you want to know that?” I asked in complete shock.

“I just want to get to know you, Sunset. If I’m going to hang out with you and give you rides to and from school, then I want to know who you are.”

“All you need to know is that I really want to be seen as a normal person, not necessarily liked, but not hated. I just want you to know, the only reason I’m here is because I don’t want to be hated and that’s it.”

“Alright,” he said with a smile. “You can tell me more when you’re ready. The bell is going to ring soon and I need to go to my locker. See you after school?”

“Yeah…” I said, feeling the same way I did this morning. I watched him walk away wanting to follow him again.

“Hey,” A voice said from behind me, “we need to talk.” I turned around and saw Flash Sentry behind me.

“Okay…what do you want to talk about?”

“First off, where did he go?” he asked as he sat across from me.

“Who?”

“Sky Light. Where did he walk off to?”

“He said he’s going to his locker.”

“Good, he’s probably not coming back.”

“What do you want Flash? Class is starting soon.”

“First, I wanted to tell you there’s no hard feelings between us. I didn’t have the same feelings for you like when we went on our first date.”

“Okay…”

“Second, you need to stop hanging around Sky Light. He’s bad news and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“He was in my band when we first started. We wrote all of our songs together and switched off between singing and playing the guitar.”

“Sounds like the two of you were friends.”

“We were, but then he started to change. He wanted to take the band one way and I wanted to go another. The second we started to argue, he spit taking all of our unfinished songs with him. He sold off the songs to someone and they somehow got to National Avengers and they went platinum with them.”

“I’m sorry Flash,” I said. “I had no idea.”

“I don’t like to talk about it. Anyway, just try to stay away from him. Okay?” He said standing up.

“Okay…”

“Take care of yourself, Sunset.” Flash walked away leaving me to think about what Flash said.

Sky had always been nice to me and it seems like he just wants the best for me. It’s almost impossible to believe that he would steal something and then sell it. Not only that, something really seemed off about him. He sounded depressed, like something was eating away at him.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t realize how much time I spent sitting there thinking. The bell rang and snapped me out of my trance. Classes were the same, no one sitting next to me, people giving me glares, people throwing notes at me. Nothing new, nothing old. When the final bell did ring and all of the students started leave, leaving the school empty. Part of me wanted me to just walk home. I would have too, but room 107 is down the same hallway as the front entrance. In order for me to leave, I would have to walk right by him.

There was nothing I could do, so I walked to the room. Sky was outside waiting for me, leaning on the lockers on the other side of the hall. He was looking down the hallway for me and smiled when he saw me. I couldn’t help, but to smile back.

“Hey,” I said walking towards him.

“Hi,” he said standing up straight. “Are you ready for this?

“What exactly am I doing?

“You,” he said as he opened the door, “are modeling.” Inside the room, Rarity and another, smaller girl were working on dresses on separate mannequins.

“Sky!” Rarity said, with her attention to the door. Sky entered the room and hugged Rarity and the smaller girl.

“You two know each other?” I asked as I entered the room.

“We worked together on a Language Arts project sophomore year,” Rarity said letting go of Sky. "What about you two, darling?”

“We’re neighbors. Hello,” I said to the other girl. She seemed scared or nervous and was almost cowering in a way. Exactly what I need.

“Don’t be rude, Coco,” Rarity said to the girl. “Come say ‘Hello’.”

“Hello,” Coco said softly.

“I’m sorry, she’s a little shy,” Rarity explained. “So, are you here to model for us?”

“She’s your girl,” Sky said.

“I don’t think you want me to model your dresses,” I said. “Besides, I’m sure one of you would look much better in them.”

“Coco is here,” Sky whispered to me, “if you can be nice to her, maybe she’ll spread the word that you’ve changed.”

“I’m your girl,” I said with a nervous smile.

“Wonderful,” Rarity said grabbing me by the arm. “Sky, darling, can you please give us some privacy?”

“Sure,” Sky said as he started to leave the room. “Oh and Sunset, if you wanted to leave, you could have gone through the soccer field.” Sky closed the door behind him, leaving me to kick myself for not thinking of that.

“Thank you so much for doing this,” Rarity said. “Coco, is your dress ready?”

“Y-yes.” Coco continued to shake as she talked.

I walked up to the dress and started examining it. It was a strapless dress that flurried like a flower the closer it got to the knees and stopped just under them. I spun it around to see if the pattern followed all the way around and it sparkled as it moved, which was a beautiful touch. The color was something like a sunrise, golden orange towards the bottom and transitioning to purple towards the top. The irony of me wearing something with a sunrise color scheme wasn’t lost on me either.

“You did this Coco?” I asked her.

“Yes…” Coco said. She seemed like she calmed down, but was still scared of me.

“It’s really pretty,” I said to her. “Are you sure you want me to wear it?”

“Of course, darling,” Rarity said. “I was actually hoping you would be here, Sunset.”

“Why me?” I asked.

“B-Because you were my inspiration for this dress,” Coco said softly. I was shocked that she, a complete stranger, did something nice for me. “My mom always told me it’s darkest before the dawn. I saw how the other students treat you and I thought I could help raise the sun.”

“Coco, I don’t know what to say,”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Rarity said. “Just try it on, darling.”

I didn’t hesitate because for the first time in my life, I was excited. The dress itself fit like a dream, almost as if it was made for me. There was a full size mirror in the room, which I’m guessing Rarity brought.

“You look stunning,” Rarity said as I looked at myself in the mirror.

“Thank you, to the both of you. I feel amazing.”

“So…how long have you and Sky been dating?” Rarity asked me.

“What? Who said we were dating? We are not dating!” I said quickly.

“Relax, darling. I was only joking. You are, however, as red as a ruby. You like him don’t you?”

“No,” I said crossing my arms, “he just did a favor for me and I feel like I owe him.”

“What exactly did he do for you?” Coco asked. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to tell what happened. I was at an all-time low and it’s something I would rather forget. On the other hand, Rarity and Coco have been so nice to me. I don’t want to ruin what we have going on by lying to them. Well if I tell them, it might ruin our relationship. Maybe they won’t think any less of me if I tell them.

I walked over to Rarity and hugged her. She was shocked at first, but started hugging me back when she realized what was happening. I started crying at just the thought of yesterday and Coco joined in and hugged me too.

“I did something stupid yesterday,” I said through my tears.

“It’s okay,” Rarity said as she started rubbing her hand up and down my back.

“You can tell us anything,” Coco said. Neither girl let me go nor did I want them to.

“Yesterday, I was at the bridge and I…I…” I started sobbing again, making me incapable of finishing the sentence.

“It’s okay,” Rarity said. “It’s in the past and you’re here now. That’s all that matters. Just let it all out.” The girls let me cry as long as I needed to, neither of them saying anything.

“Sky came at the last minute and saved me,” I said after calming down. “I felt so alone and I didn’t know what to do. Everyone has been avoiding me like the plague and I felt so alone.”

“First thing,” Rarity said as she gently pushed me away, “you can always come to me for anything. I don’t want you to bottle up anything anymore. Second, you were never alone. You have me, our friends, Sky, and now Coco.”

“It didn’t feel that way,” I said. “All of you always had some excuse for not eating lunch with me or walking home. I felt like you were avoiding me.”

“I am going to be honest with you, Sunset, I did make an excuse to not be seen with you. I see now that it was a mistake and I promise that I will never do it again. I promise.”

“Thank you, Rarity,” I said as I hugged her again.

There was one more group hug and the three of us were smiling again. Coco and Rarity cleaned me up and I changed back into my clothes and walked out of the room. Sky was waiting for me in the same spot when I first walked down the hall.

“Ready to go?” he asked me.

“Ready,” I said.

“You seem happy. I assume that everything went well,” Sky said as we started walking towards his car.

“It went better than well,” I said with a smile.

“Phase 1 of Operation: Friendship is complete,” he said with a cocky tone.

“You are such a dork,” I said with a chuckle.

“Call me a dork all you want, doesn’t change the fact that I’m going to make sure Operation: Friendship is a success.”

I was a little happy that we stayed after school because waiting in that traffic is a nightmare. The drive home was more or less the same as the drive there. I played around with the radio, but it was otherwise quiet. Every so often, I would look at Sky and think about what Flash said. Part of me didn’t want to believe Flash because he didn’t seem like the guy who would steal something. At the same time, I couldn’t think of a reason why Flash would lie to me.

“Here is your castle,” Sky said as he pulled in front of my house.

“Thanks for the ride,” I said as I opened the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Bright and early,” he said with a smile.

I smiled back at him and watched him drive into his driveway. I walked into my house and I caught myself still smiling. I looked around my house and realized something. I finally have a home.

Chapter 3: The Confusing and Happy Day

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“Why did you wake me up at 6AM?” I asked half asleep while Sky drove us to school. This morning, he came banging on my door and ranging my doorbell. At first, I thought that either Pinkie was trying to wake me up or someone was pulling a prank.

“Because it’s Wednesday,” he said.

“What’s so important about Wednesday and why does it mean I have to get up early?”

“You don’t pay attention to your friends do you? I mean, I know she doesn’t like to call attention to herself, but come on.”

“Okay, so I’m going to help Fluttershy today?”

“Exactly,” he said with a smile.

“What could she be possibly be doing at 6:30 in the morning?”

“Well nothing yet, but she’s going to need help. For now, we’re going to get coffee.”

“I’m not going to have to wear another dress, am I?”

“Not unless you want to. Besides you looked cute in that dress.”

“Wait,” I said as I realized that he wasn’t in the room while I was wearing the dress. “How do you know I ‘looked cute’?”

“Rarity sent me some pictures.”

“Delete them!” I shouted. “Delete them right now!”

“I’m driving, Sunset,” he said without taking his eyes off the road. “It’s not exactly legal for me to be on my phone right now.”

“Then give me your phone! I’ll do it!”

“It’s password protected.”

“Then tell me your password! You’re not keeping those pictures. What are you even doing with those pictures, you creep?”

“Look, Rarity just sent them to me. I didn’t save them and I delete all of my texts at the end of the month.”

“Okay…” I said. “Just promise me you won’t show them to anyone.”

“I won’t, but why not? You look really good in that dress. You’ll turn some heads if I post the pictures on Facebook.”

“You are not posting anything to Facebook!” I shouted.

“Just calm down, Sunset. I’m not going to show anyone the pictures and you should be proud of your looks.”

“I’m not that pretty,” I said under my breath.

The rest of the car ride was silent, except for the radio. I didn’t want to hear some morning talk show, so I started to cycle through the stations I can never find anything and just usually turn it off, but there was one thing I can’t bring myself to turn off. For whatever reason, I just can’t turn off Maroon 5. It’s a little embarrassing because I’m supposed to be into bands like National Avengers or Imagine Dragons. I could probably get away with Hozier, but not Maroon 5. Unfortunately, one of the morning DJs decided to play Animals and I still couldn’t turn it off. I started to quietly sing to myself, but I knew Sky could hear me.

We pulled up to Sugar Cube Corner and I considered waiting in the car. This place is usually filled with high school students, so I would stay away from here. Sky reminded me that anyone from Canterlot High is probably just now waking up or doing something else and the odds of them being here are slim to none. We walked into the coffee shop to find the place mostly empty. Mr. and Mrs. Cake were behind the counter preparing a drink and pastry for Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna. I tried to cover my face in hopes that they won’t see me.

“Good morning,” Sky said to the administrators.

“Good morning, Sky Light, Sunset Shimmer,” Principal Celestia said. “I didn’t know you two were friends.”

“We found out we are neighbors,” I said trying to fake a smile. “Sky has been driving me to and from school.”

“School doesn’t start for another few hours,” Vice-Principal Luna interjected. “Why are you wake so early?”

“We’re here to pick up breakfast for Fluttershy.” I looked past Principal Celestia to see Mr. Cake give Sky a small nod and put a pastry into a toaster oven.

“Here you go, Principals,” Mrs. Cake said as she handed the two women coffee.

“Thank you Mrs. Cake,” Principal Celestia said. “We should be going. Have a good day,” She said to us. “Oh, and Sunset, my door is always open if you ever need to talk to me about anything. I know you’ve been having a hard time since the Fall Formal, but I’m willing to put the past behind us.”

“Thank you.” We stepped aside and let the women walk past us. Usually, any mention of the Fall Formal would make me hang my head in shame, but I didn’t this time. It might have been because of how mature Principal Celestia was with the whole thing or because there was only six people in the room when it was mentioned. Whatever the reason, I wasn’t too ashamed of the whole thing.

“Good morning, Sky,” Mr. Cake said as the administrators left the building. “Just the usual today?”

“Actually, I’m also going to need salted caramel hot chocolate and whatever she wants.”

“You don’t have to do that,” I said.

“Need I remind you it’s six in the morning?” he said with a smug look on his face.

“Coffee,” I said to Mr. Cake. “Make it as dark and a large as you can please.”

“That will be fifteen dollars even,” Mr. Cake said after putting in our order. Sky pulled out his wallet and a twenty dollar bill out of that. Mr. Cake tried to give him his change, but Sky refused. Sky said he was more than willing to support a family owned business. There is no way this is the same guy Flash talked about.

We waited for our order, but it wasn’t too long of a wait. Mr. and Mrs. Cake work together like a dream. It was a little entertaining watching one of them start making a drink only to have the other finish it. The best part was watching them make coffee. The cakes had their own special way of making it. They moved way too fast for me to accurately describe it, but watching the process was mesmerizing.

We didn’t stay after the cakes gave us our order of four drink, a buttered croissant and a blueberry muffin. Sky left them another five dollar tip before leaving. There is absolutely no way this is the same guy that stole and sold Flash’s songs. The Sky I know cares about people too much. This Sky is generous, sweet, and everyone seems to like him. The Sky Flash described sounds sneaky and dishonest. I have to get his side of the story.

“Can I talk to you about something?” I asked as we got into the car.

“No we can’t go out. Not until we finish Operation: Friendship.” He said with a chuckle.

“Stop it,” I said, “this is serious. I talked to Flash the other day-”

“Let me guess,” he interrupted, “he told you that I stole the songs that we worked on and sold them to National Avengers.”

“I don’t want to believe him, but I need to get your side of the story.”

“There wasn’t any bad blood between me and Flash, it’s Ringo that really makes me mad. He was always late for practice and going off on guitar solos in the middle of a song. The final straw was when he suggested we become a cover band. I just couldn’t take him anymore, so I left the band. I was going to return the notebook with all of our songs to Flash, but I decided to stop and get something at Sugar Cube Corner. I guess I accidently left it there.”

“Then why does he think you sold them?” I asked.

“Because I started driving this car shortly after I told him I lost the notebook. This wasn’t a cheap car to put together and could probably sell for a good amount of money. I can’t really blame him for it. If I was in his shoes, I would think the same thing.”

“If you want, I can talk to Flash and tell him your side of the story.”

“Thanks, Sunset,” He said with a smile, “but we’re not looking for a mediator. If Flash ever wants to talk, he knows I’m willing to listen, but I think he already got all of that off his chest.”

There was an eerie silence in the car as he drove. I think it was because he was uncomfortable with the subject and wanted to get away from it. I should have never brought it up. It was hard for Flash to talk about, why wouldn’t it be any easier for Sky?

We pulled into Sky’s parking space and walked to the front of the school. Fluttershy was waiting for us. She was playing with her pet rabbit, which gave me a dirty look when it saw me. I guess I’m not even safe from animal’s judgment.

“Good morning,” Fluttershy said with her warm smile. I always liked her smile because it made me feel welcome. There was not hate or fakeness behind that smile. Only kindness.

“Morning Fluttershy,” Sky said. “Here is your freshly made green tea and a buttered croissants.”

“Thank you very much,” Fluttershy said as she took the drink from Sky. “I wish you would let me get you breakfast one morning.”

“You volunteer your time,” Sky said. “I could never ask you to give up a portion of your allowance when I can pay for my own.”

“Well then you have to let me do something for you.”

“I take it you help her every Wednesday?” I asked Sky.

“That, and we sat next to each other in our junior year Zoology class. We would always volunteer to feed and take care of the animals after school.”

“Wait, there’s only three of us. Why did you get four drinks?” I asked

“We’re waiting on somebody to deliver the flyers.” Fluttershy explained.

“Flyers for what?”

“Don’t you remember?” Fluttershy asked. “It’s fine if you don’t. I understand if you had other things to worry about.”

“Every Wednesday morning, Fluttershy passes out flyers for the animal shelter.” Sky said.

“I’m so stupid. How could I forget? I am so sorry Fluttershy.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Fluttershy said with her warm smile. “You had other thing to worry about.”

“So, how long until the flyers get here?” I asked after taking a sip of coffee.

“Derpy should be here any second,” Fluttershy said.

“Derpy?” I asked in confusion. To me, Derpy always seemed…well…derpy. Her eyes are always a bit off and a little dumb. She would either be in the back of the class with a confused look on her face and she never asked questions. She would just keep her head down and tried to hide her face. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a nice girl, but not really the person you would trust to deliver something.

“Here she comes,” Sky said. Derpy and smaller, younger girl were walking towards, both of them were carrying large stacks of papers. Sky handed Fluttershy the muffin and the drink and ran over to help and took the papers from the smaller girl.

“Good morning Derpy, Dinky,” Sky said. “How have you two been?”

“Good,” Dinky said, “Derpy made me the best mini-muffins last night.”

“It was just grandma’s old recipe. I make them for you all the time.”

“Yeah, but these were the best.”

“Sounds like you two are close,” I said. The four of them looked at me with blank faces. “Hi, I’m Sunset Shimmer.”

I stuck out my hand to shake Derpy or Dinky’s hand, but then something strange happened. There was no doubt in my mind that they had heard of what happened at the Fall Formal. I expected sour looks or Derpy putting herself between me and Dinky, but neither of those things happened. Instead, Derpy hugged me.

“Sorry,” she said when she realized I wasn’t hugging back. “I hugged you without even knowing if you liked to be hugged. I just thought you needed it after everything that happened.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “I did need it a little.”

Derpy hugged me again and I hugged back this time. She introduced me to her sister, Dinky, and the two of them took their breakfast. I looked over the flyers as the other four talked. They were just asking people to come into the animal shelter and help out. The flyer even promised that volunteers would get to play with puppies.

“Are you sure you want me to hand these out?” I asked. “It would probably drive people away.”

“To be honest,” Fluttershy said, “I don’t think it would really matter. No one ever really takes any of these. I usually have to take these back to the shelter.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Fluttershy.”

I joined in on their conversation. As students started to arrive, the five of us tried to give away the flyers. Dinky and Derpy had to leave part way through because Derpy was helping Dinky with a few of her classes. Sky had to leave too. He said something about helping Rarity with something. For the most part, Fluttershy was right. Most people walked past us, but they didn’t give me any death glares. There were a few people who took a flyer, but I imagine they’re going to find their way to my head.

We handed out flyers until about five minutes before the first bell rang. We talked for a little bit longer and she asked me how I met Sky. I told her about what happened on the bridge. Normally, I would be a blubbering mess about the whole thing, but there was something different about Fluttershy. Just by standing by her, you can feel the acceptance and love in her heart. She just smiled and hugged me.

Class went on pleasantly. There number of death glares and stink eyes were cut in half and no one was throwing papers at me. For the first time in a long time, I walked into the cafeteria with a smile. I got my lunch from Granny Smith and found Fluttershy by herself, smiling the entire time. Was I actually happy?

“Excuse me,” Coco said as I sat down. “Do you mind if I sit with you?”

“You don’t have to ask,” I said. Coco sat down across from me. I was looking for Sky, but then I got a text from him saying he was still helping Rarity.

“Sunset,” Coco asked towards the end of lunch. “I know we just became friends, but can I ask a favor?”

“Of course,” I said. “What do you need?”

“Well, the fashion club is having a fashion show in a few weeks and we don’t have many models. I was hoping that you would be my model.”

“I don’t think you want me to do that,” I said. “Why don’t you ask someone prettier?”

“Well, I already have your measurements, so it would be a little easier for me to make clothes for you. And all those people on Facebook said you were pretty.”

“What people on Facebook?” I asked, fearing the answer.

“All those people on Facebook commented on those pictures of you in my dress. Someone of the boys said something I wish I never read, but all the girls said they would kill to have your looks.”

“I’ll be right back,” I said as I stood up.

I walked as quickly as I could to room 107. I barged my way into the room and saw Sky and Rarity looking at a computer. I didn’t care what was on it, I was just furious at Sky.

“Why did you do it?” I shouted.

“Sunset, darling, what’s wrong?”

“Sky lied to me.”

“What did I lie about?” Sky asked.

“You promised me that you wouldn’t post those pictures. Coco just told me that they somehow found their way to Facebook.”

“Sunset,” Rarity said.

“Not now, Rarity. You know, I wanted to be less hated, but this isn’t what I meant. I didn’t want to be eye candy or anything like that.”

“Sunset,” Rarity said again.

“Rarity, please not right now. I should have known you would have done something like this. You probably also stole Flash’s songs. Just fess up and this will go a lot eaiser.”

“I posted those pictures,” Rarity said.

“What?”

“You are a priceless gem, darling. The world needs to see your beauty. That’s why I want you to be a model for Coco. Please Sunset,” Rarity said.

“Fine,” I said with a sigh. Rarity jumped up and hugged me. She told me that I wouldn’t regret it, but I have a feeling I would.

The bell rang and the three of us left the room. Rarity’s class was on the other side of the room, so she left Sky and I by ourselves.

“I’m sorry Sky,” I said as we walked. “I should have trusted you and known that you wouldn’t have posted those pictures.”

“It’s alright,” he said with a smile. “I would have blamed me too if I was you. I get that you might not completely trust me yet, but I promise I only want the best for you.”

“Okay, for now on, I’m going to trust you.”

“Thanks Sunset.” He said.

“My class is down this hall. I’ll see you after school?”

“Actually, I’m helping Rarity with planning the fashion show, so I have to help her when class gets out. Unless you want to hang out in the room while we work, I won’t be able to drive you home.”

“Oh, okay. Well then I’ll see you tomorrow I guess. Bye Sky.” I walked down the hall to my class. Most people ignored me, but I got something worse than death stares: creeps checking me out. I was able to brush them off just as easily, but not without a shiver up my spine.

I took a seat in class and opened my notebook to star doodling. Derpy took the seat next to me shortly after.

“Hi Sunset,” Derpy said.

“Hey Derpy. I didn’t know you were in this class.”

“I usually sit in the back and don’t say anything. How have you been since this morning?”

“Good. I’m actually really happy right now.”

“It looks like my hug worked then,” she said with a giggle. “I was wondering if you wanted to come to a club with me after school.”

“Sure,” I said. “It’s not like I have anything better to do.”

“Great. Come to room 203 right after school. I promise you won’t regret it.”

“I’m not going to have to model anything am I?”

“No,” she said with another giggle. “It’s not that type of club.”

Class started, but it just seemed to go on. All the classes did for that matter. It might have been because no one was really harassing me or because I wasn’t making any plots. Whatever the reason, I’m just glad class was moving quickly.

I didn’t wait when the bell rang. I headed straight for the class Derpy mentioned. Derpy and Dinky were waiting outside the class for me and they both gave me another hug when she saw me. The three of us walked in and took a seat towards the middle of the class. Most of the students here are some of the brightest this school has to offer. It didn’t cross my mind until now, but I started to wonder what club this was.

“Alright everyone,” a boy standing in the front of the class said, “it’s time to start this meeting of the Science Club.” Science Club? I had absolutely no idea that Derpy was in Science club. “Today’s discussion, Veritasium posted a video a few days ago where he took a standard size basketball and a five kilogram medicine ball. He then asked which will hit the ground first and why?”

The students started to debate with each other. Some said the medicine ball would hit the ground first because it’s heavier and has a higher force of gravity. Some said the basketball would hit the ground first because it has less air resistance, the grooves in the ball made it move faster and because it was lighter. Derpy wasn’t saying anything. She was just writing something in a notebook and saying something to herself. This debate went on for some amount of time.

“Derpy,” the boy in the front of the class said. “What do you think?”

“I think they would both hit the ground at the same time.” There was some murmuring and whispering among the other students. I think I even heard one person call her crazy.

“Interesting theory. Explain.”

“Well everything has inertia, or the tendency of matter to maintain its state of motion. Objects with a higher mass have higher inertia. So the medicine ball has a higher inertia and wants to resist motion. Because of this, it takes more force to move it at the same speed as the basketball.”

“That doesn’t make any sense, Derpy,” another boy in the class said, “The medicine ball already has more force pulling it to the ground. Wouldn’t just adding more force make it go faster?”

“Not necessarily. The important thing to remember is that it has more inertia, meaning it doesn’t want to change it state of motion. Because it doesn’t want to the change its state of motion, it requires more force to pull it to the ground. Likewise, the basketball has less inertia, so it takes less force. This also means that the ratio of inertia to force needed to move is always the same.”

“She’s right,” the boy in the front said.

I couldn’t believe it. This girl that everyone writes off as someone who just doesn’t understand the world just showed up some of this school’s smartest students. She sat there with a smile as every other student frantically searched through their notes and textbooks to check her work. The boy in the front of the class went on to describe inertia and the laws of motion.

I didn’t phase out either. I was paying attention to what was basically a science lesson. I think it might have been because someone I knew was able to explain it easily, whatever the reason, I was engaged.

The club meeting ended and the three of us started to walk home. Dinky split off from us, saying that she was going to volunteer at the animal shelter. I like to think she was really doing it to play with the puppies, which isn’t a bad thing, just cute.

“You’re a good sister,” I said to Derpy as we walked to her house.

“Thanks,” she said. “I kind of have to be. I’m all she really has.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I can’t find a job because I look like this, so our father is always working to make sure we have food in the fridge. As for our mom, well she…passed.”

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry Derpy. I had no idea.”

“It’s alright. I envy Dinky a little. She wasn’t old enough to remember our mother, but I do. She was a kind sweet woman who never meant any harm to anyone.” Derpy was on the verge of tears, so I hugged her.

“Thank you for sharing that with me,” I said.

“Thank you for being with me,” she said after letting out a few tears, “I guess it was somewhat of a blessing in disguise. I got closer with my Dinky and my dad and we’re one close family.”

“That’s really sweet. If you don’t mind, I have some other questions.”

“Ask away. Just help me with my emotions if it gets a little heavy. Deal?”

“Deal. Why do your eyes do that? Do you control it? Can you see straight?”

“I can see just fine, my eyes just look a little different. What happened was that a few bullies were really mean to me growing up. They decided to throw rocks at me one day and one of them hit me in the head and knocked me unconscious. I was out for about a day and when I woke up, I looked like this.”

“Okay, let me ask you something a bit more cheerful. How do you know so much about science? I mean, you practically blew everyone out of the water.”

“I have a friend who knows way more about science than I do. He usually runs the meetings, but he’s traveling right now.”

“What about Dinky? Does she like going to Science Club?”

“Actually, my friend started it for Dinky. She was struggling in her science class, so my friend started tutoring her. She started asking more question and he started explaining more. Soon, other students joined in and then Science Club.”

I asked her a few more questions and she asked me a few questions in return. She was surprisingly curious about Equestria and my life as a pony. I didn’t mind sharing with her because she opened up to me.

We reached her house and she asked me if I wanted to stay for dinner. I told her that I would love to. We prepared dinner for the two of us, her father, and Dinky, who came home just in time for dinner. I saw how close they were. There were no secrets or anger between them. One of them makes a mistake and the others were there to help them. They invited me to stay a little longer and play a game with them, but it was getting late. Derpy’s father drove me home and I thanked him for a lovely evening. I walked into my home with a big smile on my face. I was actually happy.

Author's Notes:

I didn't cry when I wrote that last part. Shut up. You cried when you wrote it.

Sorry this one took some time. I'm trying to write this the same time as my other story and that one was interpreted by finals. That one is ending soon and when it does, this will be my focus.

Thank you so much for waiting for this chapter and I hope it was worth the wait. I'm still trying to edit this myself and would love some help. If you find anything that is bugging you, then pm me or if you want to become an editor, then pm me your gmail account.

Final note: If I do decide to bring in the sirens, they are not going to be from Equestria. They are just girls who like to sing and manipulate people.

I almost forgot. Thank you again uotapo for the inspiration for this chapter. Here's the picture if you want to see it.

Chapter 4: A Secret Among Friends

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I think I’m in the clear. I told Sky I wasn’t feeling well, so he wouldn’t come knocking on my door. Coco has been working like crazy to make outfits for the fashion show, so she wanted to take today off. Rarity, on the other hand, making outfits is what she does to take a break. I’m just lucky I’m not her model. Fluttershy is volunteering at the animal shelter right now and I’m not scheduled to help until later. The only person that knows where I am is Derpy, but she promised to keep it a secret.

Since the day I went to Science Club, Derpy and I have become close friends. It might have been the fact that she opened up to me and I opened up to her, but I completely trusted her. Derpy had this way about her that always makes the people around her smile. That is if you got to know her. Not a lot of people really wanted to get to know Derpy, even though she’s an amazing person. There was this idea that you had to be a complete idiot to be friends with someone like Derpy. I wish there was something I could do, but who would listen to the former demon queen?

Just to be sure no one recognizes me, I put on a hoodie to hide my hair and sunglasses to hide my eyes. The only way someone would recognize me was by the color of my skin, which isn’t a unique color around here. Someone might realize it’s me by my red curl, but I doubt it. I wish this worked at school.

I had to walk across the town to get to the book store, so I was afraid of looking a little strange. However, I’ve walked there many times before and I learned a few shortcuts I can take. It’s mainly back allies, but it was way faster and I could stay out of sight. It is extremely important that no one sees me.

The bookstore I was going to wasn’t a big or flashy place. It barley had a café and all they really served was coffee. Authors never came here to have a book signing or a reading. What this place did have was a welcoming smile. They didn’t care who you were or what you did. All that really mattered to them was that you shared the same passion for books they did. They would even let you read without buying. I would go there on occasion, pick up a good book, and read it in a dark corner where no one could see. Today, however, was different.

“Good afternoon miss,” The man behind the front desk said as I walked in. I’ve been there enough times to be on a first name basis with most of the employees, but they also knew when I didn’t want to be recognized and would call me “miss”.

“Good afternoon,” I said back. “Do you have it?”

“I don’t know how many copies are left, but I’m sure there’s still one left.”

“Thanks,” I said putting money on the table so I could just grab what I needed and go.

I walked in the wrong direction at first. If I was going to get this book, I was going to be as sneaky as possible. I then made my way to the teen literature section and started searching the shelves. It took me some time, but I was in awe when I found it.

The book I was looking for was called Bloodlust. It’s the second book in newest series from A.K Yearling after she announced a break from the Daring Do series. At first, I didn’t think I would like it because I didn’t like Daring Do, but then someone here recommended Bloodmoon to me. I couldn’t put the book down. It wasn’t like other teen books. It still had that love interest thing, but that was more of a side story rather than the whole thing. It focused around themes of betrayal, loneliness, and true allegiances.

Bloodmoon is about a girl who moves to Manehatten City. She meets another girl and they become best friends. The friend turns out to be a vampire, but has an unquenchable bloodlust every full moon. The new girl isn’t afraid of her friend, until she learns that she comes from a long line of vampire hunter and the only reason she moved to Manehatten is so her parents could hunt a local cult. She is forced to join her parents one full moon, which doesn’t turn out well for her. The last book left off with the friend attacking the new girl leaving her for dead.

I have to get this book so I can find out what happened to her.

There were plenty of copies left on the shelf, but I was in awe of copy in particular. On the shelf was a signed copy of Bloodlust. A.K Yearling only signed 300 copies and most of them were sent to the big cities. I don’t know how they were able to get a signed copy, but I didn’t care.

I went to grab the book, but my hand bumped into another hand. I looked up to see a person just like me. They were also wearing a hoodie with the hood up and a pair of sunglasses. I saw something in her, something familiar. It was almost like I saw a part of myself in her.

The old me would have taken the book and ran. I did pay for it and I did see it first. That wasn’t me, however. In the few weeks since I met Sky, I began to remember who I was before I became power crazy. I cared about others they cared about me. There was a time when I would do anything for the ponies I loved. Then Princess Celestia taught me more powerful spells, which turned me into a power crazy demon. Spending time with Sky, Derpy, and everyone else reminded me that I actually liked caring about people.

I picked up the book and handed it to this person. They heisted at first, but eventually took it. This person looked around for something and then hugged me. I wasn’t prepared for it and they charged me a little, so I lost my footing and fell over. Their sunglasses fell off and I recognized the eyes.

“Rainbow Dash?” I said.

“Uh, no,” She said scrambling to her feet. “I’m…I’m…wait, Sunset Shimmer?” She asked.

“No,” I sad trying to disguise my voice. Without warning, Rainbow pulled my sunglasses off.

“What are you doing here?” She asked.

“I’m…just here to make sure no one buys this dumb book.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m here. The first book was so stupid, I don’t want anyone to read this one.”

“It wasn’t even good and talked about dumb thing, like vampires.”

“And friendship.”

“And betrayal.”

“And ancient traditions.”

“And horrifying monsters.”

“And awesome battles between blood thirsty vampires and well-armed hunters.”

“Who are we kidding?” I said. “Bloodmoon was a great book and we both want to read this one because we know it’s going to be great.”

“Alright,” she said. “Of course it’s going to be great. I haven’t read anything by A.K Yearling that wasn’t awesome.”

“You read Daring Do?” I asked. I just couldn’t see her reading anything besides a sports magazine or something. Not to say that she was dumb or anything, it’s just that she calls some people “Egg head”.

“Yeah. I started reading them when I broke my leg and I was stranded in the hospital. There was nothing for me to do, so I decided to start reading a book a nurse left behind. I got a little obsessed with the books. I was a little disappointed when A.K Yearling said she was taking a break from Daring Do, but I wanted to at least give this series a try. I read the whole thing in a night. What about you? How did you become a bloodling?”

“It was recommended to me by someone here. I picked the book up and thought this was the best book in the world. I loved the book so much that I did as much research as I could on this one.”

“Okay, so we both want this book,” Rainbow Dash said, “but there’s only one signed copy.”

“You take it,” I said after thinking it over. “You’ve been an A.K Yearling fan longer than I have. If anyone can truly appreciate it, it’s you.”

“No you take it,” she said. “I know you’ve been having a tough time at school and you could probably use a win.”

“How about this? We both take unsigned books and leave this one here so someone else can become a bloodling.”

“Fine,” Rainbow Dash said with a sigh. “I guess it’s the fairest thing to do. Plus it would be pretty awesome to talk about the book with someone else.”

“Well done girls,” some woman said behind me. I turned around to see a woman in a sunhat and sunglasses, as if she too was hiding her identity. “I have never seen two fans give up a signed copy of my book.”

“Your book?” I said, already knowing the answer.

The woman took off her hat and sunglasses to reveal herself. I was standing in front of A.K Yearling.

“You’re A.K Yearling…” I said in awe.

“This…is…so awesome!” Rainbow Dash said. “Can I ask you a few questions? Are you going to come out with a new Daring Do book? What about the Amulet of Ka’Tha? What did she do that that? And what about-”

“I see you’re a fan?” A.K Yearling said. “I can’t answer all of your questions right now. The paparazzi might catch me if I’m not careful. I’ve seen people fight over a book like this and you two are willing to leave it on the shelf to preserve your friendship. I don’t do this all the time, but I’m more than willing to do it for you.”

A.K took one of her books off the shelf and a pen from her pocket. She asked for my name and then wrote something in the book. She did the same for Rainbow and handed each of us a book. I opened it to see what she wrote.

To Sunset Shimmer, thank you for reading. A.K Yearling

I was speechless.

“This…I…You…” Apparently Rainbow Dash couldn’t think of anything to say either.

“Don’t mention it,” A.K Yearling said as she put her sunhat and sunglasses. “I’m sorry girls, I have to go. Au avoir.”

The two of us just stood there for a little while trying to process what happened. I would reread what she wrote in my book now and again. There was a part of me that thought it was all a dream and her words would change every time I looked at it. I wasn’t just holding a signed copy of Bloodlust, I was holding a personalized signed copy of Bloodlust.

“That was so awesome,” Rainbow Dash said. “And now I have a signed book that is signed by A.K Yearling herself. That makes the whole thing so much cooler.”

“I don’t know about you,” I said, “but I want to start reading this ASAP. Let’s get out of here.”

Rainbow Dash hadn’t paid for the book yet, so we made our way to the front. A.K Yearling signed the cover that also had the barcode, so the casher got a glimpse of her signature. He couldn’t believe that a famous author was in his store and he didn’t do anything about it. I’m sure he’ll be kicking himself about that for a while.

We started walking home and Rainbow remembered a story. It was just her taking about some impossible football maneuver that she did during a game last week. I’ve heard bits and parts of the story here and there when she was telling it to anyone that would listen, but I never in its entirety. I was too interested in the story, but I think I learned something new about Rainbow: she doesn’t like silence. In retrospect, it makes sense. She’s always been this high action girl who’s always doing something. I can understand why silence would make her crazy.

“That’s really cool,” I said when she finished.

“Thank,” she said. “You know Sunset, you’re a really good listener. I don’t understand why no one likes you. No offence.”

“None taken. What do you think about-”

Suddenly someone honked their horn behind us. We turned around to see two girls in a hoodless car. The passenger was stood up as the drier slowed the car so her friend wouldn’t fall out.

“Hey Rainbow Crash,” the passenger said, “who’s your loser friend?”

“Can you guys just please leave me alone?” Rainbow said.

“Aw, what wrong?” The driver said. “Did we hurt the little baby’s feelings?”

“Yeah,” the passenger said. “Are you going to go cry home to your mama or do we have to teach you a lesson again?”

“Who are these girls?” I asked.

“Yeah Rainbow Crash,” the driver said, “aren’t you going to introduce us?”

“Sunset,” Rainbow said with a sigh, “this is Lighting Dust and Gilda.”

“Is that it?” Gilda said. “Don’t your friends deserve more than that.”

“You’re not my friends!” Rainbow Dash said with some anger in her voice.

“Of course we are,” Lighting Dust said. “Who stood by you when no one else would? Who told people to fuck off when no one else would? Who risked their positions on the tack team so you could join late? Not this bitch.”

“What did you just say about me?” I asked.

“I called you a bitch,” Lighting Dust said. “What are you going to do? Turn into a demon queen?”

“Do you want to find out?” The two girls looked at each other with a little bit of fear. “Now, you’re going to leave Rainbow Dash alone or else you’re going to face my wrath.”

“Whatever,” Gilda said. “Get us out of here,”

“Sleep with one eye open,” Lightning Dust said to me as they drove off.

“Can you really turn back into that demon thing?”

“No, but they don’t know that.” Rainbow started laughing harder than I’ve ever seen her laugh. “So, what’s your deal with them?”

“I’ll tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone. And not just any promise, a Pinkie Promise.”

“What’s a Pinkie Promise?”

“It’s a promise Pinkie made and no one breaks a Pinkie Promise.”

“What happens to anyone that breaks a Pinkie Promise?”

“Trust me, you don’t want to know what happens when you break a Pinkie Promise. That last guy who did it still won’t look Pinkie in the eye.”

“Okay, I Pinkie Promise.”

“Alright,” she said with a sigh, “The three of us grew up together and we were best friends, until middle school. They started getting a little more rebellious and they wanted me to join them. I didn’t really want to do anything them and that’s how I met Pinkie. Neither of them liked her, so they made me pick between them. Pinkie had already been a way better friend than both of them have ever been. They didn’t like my decision, so they did this…”

Rainbow Dash showed me her shoulder. I couldn’t believe what I saw. On her shoulder wasa big scar.

“What did they do to you?” I asked.

“They started hitting and kicking me. I’m just happy they stopped before there was brain damage or something. Since then, they’ve been bugging me every day. Today was the first time where they drove off. Thanks Sunset.”

“No problem. And they’re the real losers. They missed out on a loyal friend like you. I know you probably still don’t like me, but I’ve always admired how great you were to your friends.”

“Are you nuts?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “You read A.K Yearling and you just told off two of the toughest girls in the city. You’re probably the second most awesome person ever.”

We continued walking until we had to part ways. I tried to hurry home as fast as I could. I really wanted to read this book. I started imagining how this one would even start off. The main character was almost dead for goodness sakes. How did A.K write herself out of that one? I was so close to my house when Sky came out of his.

“Sunset,” he said. “I see you’re feeling better.”

“Oh yeah,” I said. “I just needed to get some food in me and I was fine. If you excuse me-”

“There’s a blood moon out tonight. I hope no one gets attacked.”

“You read Bloodmoon?” I asked.

“No, but I saw it hanging out of your bag last Friday. I did a little research, found out the next book was coming out today, sent a message to Ms. Yearling, and picked up a copy myself.”

“Wait, you were the reason why A.K Yearling was at the bookstore?”

“I didn’t say that. I just told her that a fan of her’s would be at a local bookstore picking up her latest book and reminded her that she loves meeting fans in small towns.”

“You’re increasable. If there’s anything I could ever do for you, please just tell me. You have no idea what you did for me. Thank you so much.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Alright, good night Sky.”

“Good night Sunset.”

He smiled as he turned away and I smiled back at him. While all I really wanted was to read this book, it’s always nice talking with him.

“Sunset,” he said before we entered out respective houses.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

“If you’re not busy on Friday night do you think we could…”

“Could what?” I asked.

“Nothing. It’s dumb and just should be forgotten. Good night Sunset.” Sky quickly entered his house, leaving me a little confused.

I made myself something that I could slowly eat while I read. The book was everything I wanted it to be. It started with the main character in the hospital and her parents saying she was attacked by a wolf. When the friends reconvened, the main character said that she wasn’t going to hold anything against her friend. Her friend warned her to get as far away from Manehatten as possible. Her cult now has the main character’s blood and now either wants her to join or die. The book ends with another full moon, but the main character’s parents have her stay home. Because the cult had her blood, the vampires now know where the main character is. She ends up killing a vampire that came for her, but the vampire turned out to be her friend’s father.

The book was perfect. I almost immediately got on my computer to find someone to talk with. There was no way that I was the only one to not read the book in one sitting. I did some poking around and I found a blog post.

The Amazing Power of Friendship

I’ve always love small towns. There is something magical when an entire town knows each other so well. Generation is a new generation of friendship. There are coffee houses that give free pastries, clothing stores willing to give away a pair of shoes or two, book stores allow you to pay up front, there is something truly magical about a small city. Not only that, but you get away from major corporations. Every shop and diner in a small town is unique to that town. If you ever get the chance, please visit a small town.

The small town I am referring to in particular is Canterlot. A rather royal name for a small town, but it is a lovely town and they well deserve the name. There is a small bookstore that only a handful of people in the town know about. Most other people go to another store that has been around much longer, but there is enough people to keep this one afloat. It has a lovely café with the most delectable coffee. Even more incredible was the magic I witnessed.

The bookstore had obtained a signed copy of my latest book. As most of you know, there are only 300 signed copies. Of course someone was going to come for the book sooner or later. Unbeknownst to one another, two friends had come to claim the book at the same time. Neither of them could decide who should own the book, so they decided that neither of them should get it and leave it for someone else to discover. I’m sure most of you would kill just to hold the book (please don’t by the way) and these two girls were willing to give it to someone else. I couldn’t just sit by and let this act of friendship go unrewarded. I gave each of them a gift, which I hope they both greatly enjoy.

I will not give their names out of respect for their privacy, but they know who they are. To both of them I say, please allow your friendship to grow. You have a beautiful, fragile flower in your hands and I beg you do not destroy it. Should you let it to bloom, it will last thought out your life. Whatever you give this beauty, she will give back in tenfold.

Yours Truly

This is the most amazing woman alive.

Chapter 5: The Fashion Show

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Okay, I am way past the point of no return. I’ve been preparing for weeks and I think I’m finally ready for this. Coco, Derpy, and Sky have been giving me prep talks and motivational speeches. It doesn’t really help that I’m going first and the other models look so much more confident and way prettier than me, although the dress Coco made helps. I should really ask her to make me a few tops or something.

“Five minutes, girls,” the fashion club instructor said. “Remember the routine.”

I took one more deep breath to try and calm myself. Truth be told, I still don’t think that I can do this.

“Nervous?” the girl next to me asked. She was Fleur Dis Lee, probably one of the most popular girls in school since my fall from grace. Fleur is absolutely gorgeous, stunning, breath taking, and anything else that means beautiful. She already has done some amateur modeling jobs and I wouldn’t be surprised if she became a full time model after high school.

“A little,” I said grabbing my arm.

“Don’t worry,” she said with a smile. “It’s normal to be nervous your first time. Hundreds of people are watching you, taking thousands of pictures. Not only that, but you only a few minutes to change into your next outfit, fix your hair and make-up, and then walk back out and do it all over again. It’s even worse when you’re first to walk. You the girl that sets the bar for the rest of the night.”

“You’re not making this any easier,” I said while fighting the urge to curl into a ball.

“It might seem scary, but you get this rush when you reach the end of the catwalk and strike a pose. You feel like the queen of the world or a priceless piece of art. Everyone is admiring you. Every boy wants you and every girl wants to be you. The best part is you feel that rush every time you get out there.”

“If you like it that much, why don’t you go first?” I asked seriously hoping she would say yes and push me out of the way.

“Because I’m not going to let you run from this Sunset,” she said putting her hands on my shoulders. “I won’t sugar-coat it, there are some boys from school out there that are going to treat you like a piece of meat. They are going to say somethings that you never wanted to hear. But if you can through this, you can get through anything.”

“Why are you being nice to me? I’m pretty sure I started a rumor or two about you. If anything, you should be pouring a bucket of pig’s blood on me when I reach the end of catwalk.”

“First, why would I even want to get near pig’s blood? Second, you’re one of us now: a model.”

“This is just a one-time thing,” I said quickly. “I’m not model material.”

“Don’t sell yourself short. With a little more training, you could be in New York modeling for fashion week. What I mean is you know how hard it is to be a model. Tell me something, did you struggle to keep the same weight?”

“Maybe…” I said, struggling to keep my mind off of my weight.

“And you were making sure that none of your measurements changed even the slightest bit?”

“Yeah.”

“Such as the life of the model. You need to make sure that everything about your size stays the same or else your designer’s work goes down the drain. Not only that, but everything you eat is put under a microscope. The only thing I can have for lunch is salads and water. I would kill to try Granny Smith’s famous lasagna. That’s not even the worst part. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve walked down the hall only to have some boy undress me with his eyes. My point is, you know what the rest of us go through every day.”

“Thanks Fleur,” I said with a smile. I can see why she’s so popular.

“Get ready girls,” the advisor said.

Okay, deep breaths. I can do this. I feel great and look even better. I am the Mona Lisa, Statue of David, and Starry Night all rolled into one. When I step out there, every boy will want me and every girl will want to be me. That’s a disgusting thought. Plenty of boys already give me looks, but the thought of every boy wanting me for my body. I’ll be creeped out about that later, right now I need to focus on right now. I am one of the most beautiful girls at this school and everyone will know it by tomorrow.

I took one final deep breath before walking out onto the catwalk. The walk and poses weren’t that hard. Coco and Rarity helped me practice this for days until I got it perfect. If someone wasn’t going to ruin this show, it wasn’t going to be me. The hardest part was the school boys in the audience. Most of them were doing some uncreative cat-calls while I walked, which annoyed me and threw me off a bit. I recovered when I reached the end and posed, but I think people noticed. As I walked back, I noticed Fleur walking with a smile, even with the jerks in the front row.

When I got backstage, I was rushed back to the changing room. Coco already had my next dress ready for me to put on. I was instructed to take my off as quickly as I could so I won’t disrupt the flow of the show. Coco and Rarity also helped me practice this to the point where I can get in and out of my PE clothes in a matter of seconds.

“How was your first time on the catwalk?” Fleur asked me as she walked to her designer.

“Not great,” I said while changing into my next dress. “Those punks in the front row threw me off.”

“Don’t worry about them. Someone will kick them out with in the half-hour. For now, just use the trick one of my friends taught me: think about someone special to you. For me, it’s my childhood friend, Fancy Pants.”

“I think I can do that,” I said as I finished putting on my dress.

“You’re ready,” Coco said. She gave me a hug and thanked me again for doing this.

The boys again said things not worth repeating. Who’s someone I can think of instead of these losers? Rainbow? We may be friends, but we don’t have that much in common. Derpy? She’s a great girl and an even better friend, but it’s not shutting them up. Sky?

Just then, the room felt empty. There wasn’t any sounds of cameras going off or someone telling me in vivid detail what they’re going to do to me behind closed doors. I looked out into the audience and there he was. His smile lit up the room and made everything perfect. Sky was the one person I cared about.

Before I knew it, everyone was back and I was at the end of the catwalk. I did my poses and acted up a bit for the cameras. I started to feel everything Fleur was talking about. I feel beautiful and confident. I feel like the world is watching me and they are loving what they’re seeing.

Everything started to go by a bit faster and it became really simple. Change into a new dress, walk back out, pretend Sky is the only one in the audience, pose at the end of the catwalk, walk back, and do the whole thing over again. Everything seemed really simple, until the second to last dress. I did the usual trick of pretending Sky is the only one here, but this time was different. He was talking to a girl instead of paying attention to the show.

I know the girl from my darker days. Her name was Sonata and she was just one of the Dazzling triplets. These girls used their “amazing” singing voices and a few other things to manipulate others and make them do whatever they want. They’re so good at manipulation that I may have convinced them to help me win the first Fall Formal and then stabbed them in the back. It really was a dark time for me.

There was a bit of a slip up when I reached the end of the catwalk, but my poses seemed good enough so no one would notice. I turned around and started heading back to the changing room, taking one last look to see if Sky was paying attention. Not only was he not paying attention, but Sonata was giggling. What could he have possibly said that made her giggle? He’s never made me giggle.

I couldn’t help but to think these thought while changing. Then it hit me: Why do I care? Sky is just some guy that I met in my darkest hour. He was nice to me when no one else was and actually cared for me. Sky is my first real friend. If he’s just a friend, why should I care if he’s making another girl giggle? Not only that, but it’s just giggling. It’s not like they’re making out or something. I really hope they’re not making out.

This was going to be my last walk for the night. I didn’t try the trick this time because I thought it might make me more upset. Luckily, the boys either left or were thrown out, so I didn’t really need to do it. My goal was to make these poses the best of the night. I don’t remember exactly what I did, but everyone in the audience loved it. I even got a standing ovation. I should be happy, but the thing with Sky and Sonata really threw me off.

When I got back to the changing room, Coco and Rarity ran up and gave me a hug.

“You were extraordinary, darling,” Rarity said while hugging me.

“Thanks,” I sad letting go. “The real praise goes to Coco. She’s the one that did all the work and made me look like this.”

“It was nothing,” Coco said with a blush.

“Both of you need to stop selling yourself short,” Rarity said. “Coco, you are extremely talented. Sunset, you are gem, darling.” If I’m gem then why don’t I feel like one?

The rest of the girls came in one by one and celebrated with their designers. The models and their designers took a final walk. Afterwards, I was invited to a small after-party.

“Sunset!” Fleur said as she approached me. “You were fantastic. I wanted you to meet my sister, Cadence. Cadence this is Sunset Shimmer.”

I recognized Cadence from, well everything around school. She was the Spring Fling and Fall Formal Princess all four years she attended Canterlot High, captain of the tennis and debate teams, and class president her junior and senior year. The old me probably would have used her if she didn’t graduate the year before my freshman year started.

“So, you’re the star of the show,” Cadence said.

“Cadence works at a modeling agency as a ‘head hunter’.” Fleur explained.

“It’s my job to connect designers and photographers with models. Recently, I’ve been tasked with finding a model for the fabulous Prim Hemline. I think you have exactly what she is looking for.”

I would have been shocked over this offer. Out of every girl in the show, Cadence wants me to be a model for one of the best fashion designers in the world. I would be, but I was a little distracted. The door was a few feet from Cadence and Sky and Sonata just so happened to walk by the window.

I excused myself from the conversation, saying that I needed some time to think about her offer. I practically bursted out of the room and tried to follow them. They moved faster than I thought because they weren’t in the halls. There wasn’t a real reason why I was running. Maybe I was afraid of what the Dazzlings were going to do with Sky. Maybe I just didn’t want him to leave without me. Whatever the reason, I was running to stop them from whatever they were doing.

“Look who we have here,” Adagio said as I reached the door leading to the parking lot. She was standing next to Aria, both having an evil grin as she stood blocking the exit.

“Out of my way,” I said trying to push past her.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Aria said. “We can’t let you stop this.”

“What are you talking about? What is this?”

“You see,” Adagio started to explain, “our dear sister has had her eyes set on someone for some time now.”

“And because we’re such good sisters,” Aria picked up, “we decided to help her with her little crush.”

“I swear if you do anything to Sky, I’ll-”

“You’ll what, Sunset?” Adagio asked. “You’ll spread rumors about us? We wouldn’t want that now would we?”

“I guess it will destroy our reputation. But wouldn’t that also mean everything people have said about you was right.” The grin on Aria’s face grew bigger as she locked eyes with me.

“W-what have people been saying about me?” I asked fearing the answer.

“Oh nothing,” Adagio said. “They’ve just been saying there was no way you can keep up this charade.”

“People think you’re too far gone,” Arai said. “They say that your true self will show and you’ll be right back to your old tricks.”

“I’ve changed!” I shouted. “I’m in a much better place!”

“Is that why you immediately blamed Sky when you found those pictures on Facebook?” Adagio asked.

“Or why you pretend to be friends with that dumb, weird girl and go to that stupid science club?” Aria asked.

“Leave Derpy out of this! She hasn’t done anything to you, so you don’t need to talk about her!”

“Probably not,” Adagio said as she smiled at Aria. “I think we’ve stalled her enough. I hope you enjoyed our talk, Sunset. It was certainly worth it.”

Both of the girls laughed and walked through the doors they were guarding. I ran out the second I got the chance and tried to look for Sky’s car in the parking lot. Adagio and Aria were distracting me while Sonata and Sky drove off.

I didn’t know what to do. What could I do? Sky was off with another girl, I’m pretty sure I just blew whatever chance I had at making friends by running out of that room. What if Adagio and Aria were right? What if I’m just looking for an excuse to go back to the way I was? What would have happened if Sky wasn’t there and I didn’t try to jump? I probably would have gone right back to the old me.

Without any other options I started to walk home. I didn’t live too far away and I did take off my heals at the party so things weren’t that bad. Unfortunately it started to rain about ten feet from the school. The one time I don’t wear my jacket is the one time actually need it. As I tried my best to stay dry when a car pulled up to me and rolled down the window.

“Do you need a ride?” Principal Celestia said from inside the car.

“I don’t want to waste your gas or get your car wet.”

“It’s no problem,” she said opening the door. I heisted a bit, but I decided to get in.

“Just take a left at the fourth light. My house is the last one on the right.”

“Is something wrong?” She asked me as she started to drive.

“Why would you think there’s something wrong?” I asked.

“I’ve been working with high school students for a long time, Sunset. I think I can tell when something’s wrong with one of my students. It’s okay to tell me whatever you want. I told you, you can always talk to me.”

“It’s just…well…” I tried to figure out what I was going to say to her. I don’t even understand what’s going on. How could I possibly begin to explain it? “Okay, I’ve been hanging out with this guy-”

“Sky Light,” Principal Celestia said. “He’s an outstanding student and seems like a good friend.”

“He is and we’re really good friends. Anyway, I think he was flirting with this girl at the show tonight and I don’t think she’s right for him.”

“Is there something wrong with her?”

“She’s conniving and manipulative. She bends to the will of her sister and none of them care who they hurt to get what they want. And I don’t mean to be mean, but she’s a little dumb.”

“Are you sure that’s why you’re upset?”

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe it’s not who he’s with, but the fact that he’s with someone at all.”

“Are you saying I want to be with him?” I shouted. “I don’t like him like that! We’re just friends!”

“Relax,” she said after a small laugh. “I didn’t mean it like that. All I meant is that maybe you’re afraid that he will stop giving you attention and stop hanging out with you. From what I’ve seen around school, he means a lot to you and you don’t want to lose him.”

“You’re right. I have no idea what I would do if Sky said he didn’t want to be around me anymore.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that. I think if he had to pick between you and another girl, he would choose you every time.”

“Thanks Principal Celestia.”

“Absolutely no problem,” she said as she pulled up to my house. “Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?”

“Well there’s this one thing…but it’s stupid.”

“Are you sure? I promise you, anything said in this car stays in this car.”

“I’m sure,” I said opening the door and getting out of the car. “Have a good weekend.”

“You too,” she said with a smile.

I closed the car door and ran to my front door. I immediately ran to my room and changed into my favorite pajamas. I love rainy days because I usually make myself a cup of hot chocolate and re-read some A.K Yearling book. Of course, I made myself a cup of hot chocolate and picked a random book from my shelf, this time it was Daring Do and the Staff of Sun Wukong. I was at the part where Daring tries to solve the riddle of the 72 transformations when Sky’s car pulled into his driveway. I spied on him from my window, but I was really trying to see if Sonata was still with him. Luckily, Sky was alone. Part of me wanted to go down there and figure out what happened. I wanted to know what he did with Sonata and how he really feels about her. I wanted to, but I didn’t. If I really wanted this friendship to continue, I have to let Sky be his own person and not be like a clingy girlfriend.

Chapter 6: Nice People

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This has been the worst week of my life. Not even the outfit Coco made for me makes me feel better, but I do love it. Sky and Sonata have been spending all their time together and it is driving me crazy. It’s not that he’s spending time with another girl, it’s that I can’t even get near him without Sonata’s evil sisters acting like guard dogs. What did I do to deserve this? Oh…right…

Still, I don’t think my behavior warrants this kind of punishment. They’re taking away my best friend and there’s nothing I can do about it. He’s the only person who understands me and probably the only one that gets me. Sure, Derpy is there to comfort me, Coco and Rarity can make me feel better about myself, and I feel like I can talk to Rainbow Dash about anything, but they don’t get me on the same level as Sky.

To try and forget about Sonata and Sky, I decided to get a job. I tried applying to Sugar Cube Corner, Pinkie even said she would put in a good word for me. Unfortunately, Mr. and Mrs. Cake weren’t hiring at the moment. Pinkie then told me about a new café that opened up a few blocks away. She happened to forget to tell me that it was a maid café, but I basically got the job when I walked through the door. At first I thought there was no way that I would ever work here, but then I took a look around. The girls weren’t wearing revealing and the customers weren’t objectifying the girls. In fact, the girls looked like they were enjoying themselves.

I got to know the people were I work pretty well. First there was Colgate, the daughter of the two most successful dentist in the city. She’s as bright as her smile and even more insightful. People would come in and request her just to have a meaningful conversation. Sweet Leaf was the first person they hired and has no intention of leaving. Customers would agree there’s something special about the food she serves, even though she does nothing to it. Lyra and Bonbon have known each other since they were kids and still best friends to this day. They are so close that they can finish each other’s sentences.

Finally, there was Octavia. Octavia is originally from England and only moved to Canterlot within the last few years. She has a thick accent and people think she’s arrogant because of this. Truth be told, she’s one of the most kind and caring person I have ever met. She always asks me how I’m doing and would invite me to go out with her and a few friends after our shifts. I introduced her to Derpy and Coco and the four of us started hanging out both in and out of school.

Lucky for me, The Dazzlings don’t harass me while I’m around my friends. They do, however, try to find ways to make me feel uncomfortable. They brought back the tradition of throwing notes at my head and they give me intimidating stares as I walked down the hall. Whenever I did get to spend time with Sky, at least one of The Dazzlings was nearby and watched us like a hawk. The only time I was able to see Sky without one of those witches around was when he came into the café with his friends and I didn’t want to talk to him about Sonata with his friends around.

Today started out as a good day. I got plenty of sleep last night and woke up on the right side of the bed. I had a nice, relaxing shower and followed it up with a delicious breakfast. Sweet Leaf and Colgate called in sick, so Octavia and I are covering their shifts. This meant we had to work a double shift, but neither of us minded. We both enjoyed working and the owner is really nice to anyone who takes a double.

It would have been nice catch a ride with Sky as he left to hang out with some other friends, but it was a nice day and I didn’t mind walking. I was afraid of seeing The Sanderson Sisters on my walk. As luck would have it, they were nowhere to be seen.

I walked into the café and the host greeted me. I smiled and said hello back and headed into the back room to change into my outfit. Octavia was already back there, waiting for her shift to start. Our uniform was a traditional maid’s outfit, except we have orange instead of black. The selves stopped about a fourth of the way down the arm and the skirt stopped just above the knees. It looked like a real maid’s outfit.

“Good morning, Sunset,” Octavia said as I walked into the room.

“Good morning. How have you been?” I asked as I stepped behind the room divider to change.

“I’ve been better.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t really know myself. I’ve just been feeling a little down lately. Maybe I’m just stuck in my own head. I should be fine once we start.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it? You know we can talk about anything.”

“How can I talk about something when I don’t understand it myself? I’ll be fine.”

“If you say so,” I said as I stepped from behind the divider. “How do I look?”

“Fantastic,” She said with a smile.

We walked into the main room and started working. Usually, people are kind and not trying to see up our skirts. This was a place for people to enjoy food and conversation. This wasn’t a peep show or some brothel. That rule seems to fly out the window when a bunch of middle-school or under classmen come into the café. Luckily, the host, typically a male, also works as a bouncer. If anyone causes trouble, he has the right to kick them out. However, he can’t actually do anything until they cause a disturbance, which means they try and pick us up as often as they want. I learned some tricks to help keep the perv levels down. I started wearing shorts under my skirt so if they “accidently” lift it up all they see is more clothes.

“Excuse me, maid,” One of the high school boys called out to me. He was sitting with his friends in another corner. I wanted to kick them out because I thought they were nothing but trouble, but the host could probably handle them.

“Yes, Master,” I responded.

“Do you have a license?” He asked. “Because you’re driving me crazy.” The boy and all of his friends started cracking up.

“I’m sorry, Master, I do not have a driver’s license,” I said, keeping the smile I always have to wear. Sweet Leaf told me that immature boys will try to pick me up and I should just smile and act as if they were serious.

“Hey maid,” another boy said, “if I flip a coin, what are the chances of me getting head?” Again, the boys started laughing.

“I believe it’s a 50 percent chance, Master.”

“I’m sorry for my friends,” another boy said. “The real reason we called you over is because I have a favor to ask. I lost my number, can I have yours?”

“Leave her alone,” a mature voice said from behind me. It was Flash and I have never been happier to see him. “Maid, can I please talk to you in private?”

“Yes, Master,” I said. Even if I was enjoying myself, I had to say yes. Thank you management. I passed by another maid and asked her to cover my area while I was on break. Flash and I sat at a two person table across each other.

“You look good,” Flash said. “I mean not because you’re in a maid outfit or anything. I meant you look fit. Not that I was checking you out, but-”

“It’s alright Flash,” I said with a giggle. “I knew what you meant. What are you doing here? You’re not the kind of guy who goes to a place like this.”

“I was just checking up on you. I know I asked you to stay away from Sky, but I also know that you care for him. I noticed that you two weren’t hanging out as much, so I was concerned that you two got in a fight or something.”

“It’s nothing like that. I just don’t like his new girlfriend.”

“Who’s his girlfriend?” He asked.

“Sonata Dusk.” I sighed at just the thought of them together.

“Is there something wrong with her?”

“There something wrong with her and her sisters. When I was my evil self I used The Dazlings to get what I wanted. They have a way about them that can make anyone do anything they want. I had them help me win the freshman Fall Formal and then told everyone what they did.”

“Do you think that they’re exacting some kind of revenge?”

“Yes and no. I do think that Sonata really does have feelings for him. I think she really likes him, maybe loves him. But why now? Why when do they show up when I start hanging out with Sky? Why are they trying to keep me away from him? It’s too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence.”

“For what it’s worth,” he said as he grabbed my hand. “I would have picked you over anyone any day. Do you want to have dinner tonight?”

“Where’s this coming from?” I asked, almost bewildered by his question.

“I know you might not have liked me when we were dating and was just using me to get more popular, but I liked you. If the you I liked was just an act, than I might like the real you even more. So, what do you say?”

“What about Twilight? I saw you two at the Fall Formal and you seemed like you really liked her too.”

“I have to be realistic. Twilight left this world and might never come back. Even if she does, she’ll only be here for a few days and then I have to wait again. We can’t build a relationship off of that. Please Sunset, I really want to get to know the real you.”

“Sunset,” the maid I asked to cover my tables said, “your break is over.”

“I’m sorry, Master,” I said as I stood up. “I need to get back to work. Is there anything I can get you?”

“No…” he said with a disappointed look, “I’m fine.”

I was still thrown off a bit by Flash’s question. Why, after all this time, would Flash suddenly ask me out? Could it be because he didn’t want to be seen with me when everyone hated me? That can’t be it. Everyone hated me before and he was still happy to have me around his arm. Come to think of it, Flash has only been nice to me since I met him. Even after I broke up with him, he still helped me when he could. Maybe he really does like me and I’m just shrugging him off.

“Sunset,” Octavia said coming towards me. “Can you please cover that table for me?” She pointed at a table with several kids from school. They were all from all class, so I knew they weren’t going to try anything funny.

“Are you going on break?”

“No, I just need you to cover that table. Please Sunset.”

“Of course.”

I walked over to the table and introduced myself like we’re told. They were pretty easy going and didn’t give me any trouble. Some of the males even gave me compliments without sounding like they wanted more. This was a dream table. I wondered why Octavia wanted to give it up?

I walked back to the kitchen to put in the order and I found Octavia blushing and hiding behind a wall.

“Octavia?” I said trying to get her attention. She jumped, not expecting me.

“Don’t do that to me,” she said when she realized it was just me.

“What’s going on? Why did you want to give up that table?”

“I guess it’s only fair if I tell you. I’m…obsessed with someone at that table.”

“Really?” I asked, still a little confused.

“I don’t know what it is, but I can’t stop thinking about them. Every time I see them, my heart just sings. Whenever I’m playing anything remotely romantic, they’re all I can think about. And not to mention her voice.”

“Wait…her? Sorry, I just didn’t think you were-”

“I’m not,” she interrupted. “I’m bisexual, but I would easily turn if that’s what she really wanted.”

“What’s her name?”

“Vinyl Scratch. She usually goes by the name DJ PON-3 when she’s on the stage. You should see the way she gets lost in her music. It makes one of those faces that shows she’s enjoying what she’s doing and the only thing that matters is her music.”

“If you want, I can ask her to talk to you,”

“No! I would die of embarrassment if she ever found out I liked her. Plus, I don’t even know if she likes me back. What if I say the wrong thing and suddenly she thinks I’m a freak and never wants to talk to me again?”

“Calm down,” I said as I grabbed both of her shoulders. “You can’t keep these feelings bottled up. You need to at least try and talk to her. At the very least, you could get a new friend.”

Octavia took in a deep breath and gave it some thought. It was a little funny to her like this. Usually Octavia is graceful and elegant. She’s always been the one to remain calm in situations like this. Seeing her get all rallied up over anything one is a whole new side to her.

“Okay, I think I can talk to her. Can you please get her for me?”

I nodded my head, gave Octavia a hug and walked back to the table. One of the boys was in the middle of a story and we have been instructed never to interrupt a customer. The boy kindly interrupted himself and asked me what I needed.

“I’m sorry to bother you, but one of the other maids requests Vinyl Scratch’s presences. If you would please follow me.”

Vinyl got up from her seat and walked with me. Some of our customers like to just talk with our maids. Sometimes they just want to vent about their lives or talk to someone they can relate to. Lucky for them, this café has a small, den like area made just for that.

“Look, if this is about signing up to be a maid, I’m not interested,” Vinyl said as she followed. “No offence to any of you, but that’s just not my style.”

“It’s nothing like that. Octavia Melody just wants to talk to you.”

“Octavia, huh. That’s the one that plays the cello right? You know, the cute one.”

I smiled a bit because I knew this was the start of something beautiful. I led her to the empty seat next to Octavia, who was blushing harder than anyone ever. I couldn’t stay to hear their conversation, but I did get an idea of how it was going. It started out kind of slow, as Octavia didn’t know what to say. It then started to pick up, as I guess they traded stories. By the end of our shift, they were holding hands.

I had to pull Octavia a way for a moment so she could clock out and change back into her street clothes. I also took the opportunity to find out how it went.

“So,” I said as we changed. “how did it go?”

“She likes me back!” Octavia shouted. “She said that everything I do everything in the most beautiful manner possible. She even asked me on a date, Sunset. Don’t even know how to start thinking you. If there is absolutely anything I could do to repay you, please just ask.”

“Don’t worry about it. You would have done the same for me.”

“You’re right. I would have.”

We went back to the dining area where we saw Vinyl waiting at the front door. Octavia ran towards her and the two of them left the building hand-in-hand. I followed them out of the building and watched them walk off into the sunset holding hands.

“Well what do we have here?” Adagio said from behind me. I turned around to see the three Dazzlings standing right behind me.

“It looks like she’s trying to make something freakier than she is,” Aria said. “So people would stop talking about her and start talking about that abomination.”

“Can you please not do this today?” I asked. “I has having a really good day until you three showed up.”

“You know we were having a good day one day. You just won Queen of the Fall Formal and you promised us all the love and adoration in the world.” Adagio said.

“And then what happened?” Aria said, “You soiled our good name and ruined us. You made sure that everyone hated us and no one would ever want to talk to us.”

“You ruined our good day, so if we ruined yours than our job is done for the day. Come on girls.”

Adagio and Aria walked away with evil grins on their faces. Sonata stayed behind, but it’s probably because she didn’t notice her sisters walking away.

“Can we talk, Sunset?” Sonata asked me.

“I don’t want to hear anything you have to say. You won alright. You successfully took my best friend away from me and now you want to gloat?”

“It’s not like that Sunset. Please can we just talk?”

“Why? Is it because you’re recording all of this so everyone will think I’m a monster. Is that what you really want? To have everything think I’m a monster again?”

“But, you’re not a monster. I’ve seen you around school and how nice you’re being. You talked to that really shy girl, you were super nice to that girl with the weird eyes, and you just helped that musician find her love. Does any of that sound like a monster to you?”

“Then why do I still feel like one?” I said, trying to hold back tears.

“Let me tell you something that my mom told me. Your past doesn’t define you because your past is not today.”

“Why are you being so nice to me?”

“Because I saw the change you made and I wanted to make that change too. I don’t want to be thought of as the girl who rigged the Fall Formal election. I want to be thought of as Sonata.”

Maybe I misjudged Sonata. Maybe she was just the girl who got caught in the cross-fire and now she’s a monster. I thought about it and she too has never said a mean thing about me. She’s never laughed at my misfortune or started any rumors, or I don’t think she has. She’s only been that girl on the side, silent as her sisters took center stage and her voice was drowned out. Either way, what kind of person would I be if I told her I wouldn’t help?

“Okay, Sonata. We’re going to fix your reputation.”

“Thanks Sunset,” she said with a smile. “I also wanted to talk to you about Sky. I really really like him. I like him more than I’ve ever liked any other boy ever. But I also know how close you two are and if you like him more than me, than I don’t want to get in between you two. So, do you like him more than me?”

“I…I’m not sure. I think I like him, but it could be just because he’s the first person who I thought really cared about me.”

“Do want to talk about it until you figure it out?”

“I would like that.”

Chapter 7: A Talk in the Park

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“So…do you like him?” Sonata asked me as we walked through the park.

“I told you, I don’t know. I mean, he’s a really nice guy and I love spending time with him, but…”

“But what?”

I wanted to tell her that he saw me at my weakest point. He saved me from killing myself and made me never want to do it again. I wanted to tell her that he helped me find friends and inspired me to keep trying. But I couldn’t. As far as I know, she’s just getting information for her sisters. Maybe this is all an elaborate trick for me to spill my secretes so they can tell everyone in school. I should tell her something so ridicules that no one will believe her.

No, that’s not me anymore. Sunset Shimmer is trusting of people and always willing to give people a chance, even if they never gave me a chance. Still, I can’t tell her how I really feel because I don’t even know how I feel.

“But…we’re not here to talk about my love life. We’re here to talk about how you’re going to make friends.”

“Can we talk about your love life?” Sonata asked with a smile. “That one is much more fun.”

“Only after you made a friend. So, what are you looking for in a person?”

“Honestly, I just want someone who sees Sonata. All my life it’s ‘Here come the Dazzlings’. For once in my high school life, I want to be Sonata.”

“Has there ever been a time when you were Sonata? Maybe if we can figure out why you weren’t associated with your sisters, I can help you make that change now.”

“Well there was one time when we were younger.”

“Why then?”

“Because I didn’t play stupid. I was way more popular than my sisters. I was smart, pretty, and everyone loved me, except for my sisters. They…weren’t the nicest to me at home. They would always steal myself or take extra long in the bathroom so I wouldn’t have time to do my hair or brush my teeth. But then I started acting like I was dumb and naïve. Suddenly, Adagio wasn’t mean to me anymore and Aria stopped taking my stuff. Over the years, I just kept playing dumb and did whatever my sisters told me to do because I wanted us to be a family.”

“So, why do you want to change now? If you still want to be a family all the time, then why do you want to make friends without them?”

“Because I’m tired of pretending to be something I’m not because of other people. I still want to spend time with my sisters, but I don’t want my life to revolve around them. It’s because of them no one will talk to me. They think I’m just trying to be nice to get information for Adagio or something. I just want to sit at a table with other people and have a normal conversation with others.”

“Oh, well if that’s all you want, why don’t you join me and my friends for lunch on Monday? I’m sure we’re love to have you.”

“Who do you sit with?”

“Coco Pommel, Derpy and her little sister, and Octavia. You'll fit in perfectly!”

" They won't like me..."

“I don’t think they’ll mind.”

“You don’t understand, my sisters and I have done something to all of them.”

“What could you have possibly done to make any of them angry? I’ve probably done worse and they still accept me.”

“Well with Coco, we kinda pressured one of her models into eating a ton of food a few days before a fashion show. We’ve spread countless rumors about Derpy and Dinky, all of which I am ashamed of. As for Octavia…it’s way too bad and it’s one of my deepest regrets.”

“Look, it’s fine. I don’t think Coco can hold a grudge, even if she tried. She is one of the sweetest and most genuine people I have ever met. Derpy doesn’t care about what were, only about what you are. As for Octavia, well she might be a little mad, but she doesn’t hold grudges and I think she might be a little more forgiving now that she has Vinyl. It’s like you said, your past doesn’t define you.”

“I suppose you’re right, but what if I’ve gone too far? What if no matter what happens they don’t forgive me?”

“Well then you’ll always have me,” I said with a smile.

Sonata smiled back and hugged me. We started talking about our lives before we met. Like everyone else, Sonata was extremely interested in my life as a pony. To be fair, I would be too if I learned that someone from my school was actually a magical unicorn from another universe and was a student of an all powerful ruler of the place. My past did seem more interesting than her’s, however. All she would really talk about was her sisters and what they would do as a family. She would go on and on about how her and her mother would do everything together. Sonata had an extremely positive relationship with her mother, which made me a little jealous.

I never knew my parents. I was left in an orphanage in Canterlot when I was a baby and raised by the ponies that worked there. All the time I would see other ponies get adopted while family after family passed me up. It just made me a little mad that other ponies were taking away my friends. Unlike my rise to “popularity” at Canterlot High, the ponies at the orphanage really liked me. Maybe it was because I got my cutie mark before most foals my age or because I would do tricks with my magic, but the ponies there actually like me. Doing the tricks for my friends was how Princess Celestia found me. Around the time she adopted her son, she started paying more attention to the orphaned children. I was in the middle of doing my “famous” Three Hat, One Bunny Roulette trick and she saw something special in me. She took me in and made it her goal to bring me to my potential. One day, I decided that I wasn’t getting power fast enough, and I guess the rest is history.

“Sorry, I’ve been talking for way too long,” Sonata said, not realizing I wasn’t really listening. “What about you, how was your family in Canterlot.”

“Not really. I never knew my real parents, so Princess Celestia is the closest thing I ever had to a mom. The only problem is, she already adopted another kid, so I never felt close to to the princess or her son.”

“Was her son nice at least?”

“We never really hung out. I was too busy with my studies and he was too busy having a life outside of school.”

“Maybe that’s why you like Sky. He’s the first person to actually show they care about you and never wanted something out of you.”

“So, you think I would have gotten close to anyone who would have helped me?”

“Well, not necessarily. I mean, yeah maybe you would have thought greater of whoever helped you, but Sky did more. He wanted to make sure you were okay and that you were going to be okay. He genially cared and never thought less of you.

“That’s why I like him. He’s always so kind and never expected anything from anyone. He would be the type of person to go to the store, buy a blanket, and give it to a homeless person and then buy them a hot meal. He never even expected a ‘Thank You’ .”

“Sky is something special.” I said while smiling.

“Is that why you like him?” Sonata asked.

“Yeah, but who doesn’t like a nice guy. They’re becoming rarer these days and I just want to hang out with one for a little while.”

“I mean is that why you want to be with him?”

“Who says I like him?”

“It’s obvious. They way you smile whenever you think about him, how you talk about him, how you always want to spend time with him. Most of all, how crushed you were when my sister stopped you from spending time with him. And I guess it didn’t help that I was spending as much time as possible. I bet you even got the job at the maid café to get your mind off of him, didn’t you?”

“Well…that’s not the only reason I took the job,” I lied.

“I wasn’t lying when I said I wouldn’t get in between you two. If you like him more than I do, then I’ll back off.”

“Why? Why would you back off if you basically have him in your pocket?”

“Because I’m a believer in true love. There is someone out there for everyone and maybe your someone is Sky and why kind of person would I be if I got in the way of it.”

“What if he’s your someone? I wouldn’t want to get in the way of that either.”

“It’s the little things when I’m with Sky. Sometimes I feel like we’re just hanging out as friends and not on a date. There are times when he wants to check on you, but I try to change the subject. If he is my someone, then he would be more interested in me than you, wouldn’t he?”

“Well, what if just really cares about me? Like I’m his little sister or something.”

“Really?” Sonata asked me as she rolled her eyes. “My sisters may be mean to me, but they sill care about me unlike anyone else. I know when someone cares about me as a sister, or a love interest, and now a friend. Sky definitely cares about you as a love interest.”

“No he doesn’t” I said blushing.

“And that tells me what I need to know. I hope you two are happy.”

There was a part of me that believed this was all a set up. I thought maybe her sisters were recoding me and they were waiting for me to say something embarrassing. Then they were going to show it to the whole school and then everyone would know my secret. But then I looked at Sonata. She was smiling and there was something about her that made me want to trust her.

“Okay…I like Sky. No, I really like Sky, a lot. I just want to be with him and with no one else. I want him to hold me and never let go and tell me everything is going to be okay. I want him to kiss me like no one else has ever been kissed. I just…want to be with Sky.”

“Have to talked to him about how you feel?”

“Of course not. What if he doesn’t like me back and he tells the school and then everyone knows how venerable I am? Or what if he does like me and we start dating and everyone else starts making fun of him and his life is ruined because of me? Or what if your sisters make something up to make me look bad in his eyes. Or what if Sky-”

“Sunset,” Sonata said grabbing my shoulders to calm me down. “Sky would respect your privacy, he wouldn’t care what anyone else says about you or does to him, and I’ll make sure my sisters don’t interfere. Got any other excuses?” She asked with a smirk. She was good.

We continued to talk about my fears of dating Sky. Sonata did an amazing job at figuring out some way to calm me down and fix whatever problems I had. Before I knew it we were on her street where she said goodbye. I offered to walk her to her house, but she didn’t want me to because she didn’t want her sisters to harass me, which was probably a good idea.

Lucky for me, Sonata only lived a block or two away from me, so it wasn’t a long walk. I decided to just go right up to Sky’s house, knock on his door and tell him how I feel. Lay down all of my cards and see what happens next. I was going to find out if he like me back or I was wasting my time.

But when I got to our houses, he was sitting on my front porch.

“Sunset!” he said as he saw me. “I was waiting for you. I thought you got home from work at 6?”

I realized I had no idea how long Sonata and I were talking. I pulled out my phone to check the time and saw it was 7:30. Was he really waiting there for an hour and a half?

“Sorry, I was talking to someone. Sky, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Wait,” he said holding up his hand, “there’s something that I’ve wanted to ask you for a long time, but never had the courage to say. And after I ask you, please don’t laugh and just let me down lightly.”

“I will,” smiling because I knew what was coming next.

“Do you…I don’t know…want to get dinner with me sometime? You know, like a date?”

“I’d like that.”

Chapter 8: Date Night

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Okay Sunset, you need to calm down. There’s nothing to worry about. You’re just about to go on a date with the first person who showed you genuine affection and probably likes you and you really like him too, so if you mess this up then you’re going to be alone forever. You know nothing big.

Ugh, why am I so nervous? This isn’t the biggest thing I’ve done. I should have been way more nervous at the Fall Formal and even more nervous the next day. But I didn’t care about other people then. I didn’t care if no one liked me because I needed them to fear me. Now, I care about Sky. I want Sky to think I’m perfect, even though I know that he knows I’m not. If I could, I would just start over with him, so he wouldn’t know about the demon thing. Why couldn’t this be simpler?

I told Rarity and Coco about my date and they offered to help me put an outfit together. I didn’t think I really needed to. I know what looks nice and what Sky would think looks good. But then Rarity made a big deal about looking perfect for the guy I lov- LIKE. For the guy I like. Either way, they knew how to play me and I accepted their offer.

Sky told me he was going to take me I then remembered that I only had one dress. It’s nothing special, just a red dress that goes a bit below my knees. Unfortunately, they took that into account and brought over a dozen dresses each. And their make-up. And their jewelry. And their hair care products and other things to style my hair. Great…

“What about this one?” I asked entering my guest room wearing the fourth dress. It was a flashy, blue, strapless dress with blue sequence on the side.

“I don’t think it fits her,” Coco said. “It looks a little too…revealing.”

“It’s not bad to show some skin on the first date, darling,” Rarity said with a smirk.

“Can I please take this off?” I asked. “I just don’t feel right in this one.”

“You’ve said that about every dress you’ve tried on,” Rarity said as she looked through the pile of dresses. “There has to be one of them you like. What about this one?”

It was a long black dress with long sleeves, which I didn’t like either. None of the dresses I’ve tried on are me. They’re not my style or something that feels right. Don’t get me wrong, I look good in them, but I just don’t think it would be something I would normally wear.

In Rarity and Coco’s defense, I don’t really think I know my style now. When I was trying to rule the school, I needed a tough persona, hence the leather jacket. I saw some pictures of bikers wearing them and they looked plenty tough. Now that I’m trying to make friends, I’ve hung up my old leather jacket, and I’m a little lost. Imagine completely changing your entire persona while trying to keep some of who you are.

“I don’t think any of these are me,” I said going through the dresses one by one.

“Maybe she’s just not a dress type of girl,” Coco said. “What if we put her in a nice blouse and skirt?”

“Wait,” I said as I came across a dress. It was a long, teal, single-strapped dress with a blue ribbon around the stomach. I pressed it against my body and looked in a mirror and thought something was missing.

“Try these,” Rarity said, holding a pair of teal teardrop clip-on earrings to my ears. It was almost perfect.

“We could put your hair up.” Coco said.

Perfect.

Rarity and Coco also seemed happy that I had finally chosen an outfit. I realized why when I looked at a clock and saw that we were trying to help pick an outfit for about three hours now.

“I’m sorry I took up so much of your time,” I said as they were styling my hair. “I know there are other things you would rather be doing than this.”

“Like what?” Coco asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe working on a fashion show or hanging out with your other friends.”

“You’re our friend too,” Coco said as she started tying up another strand of hair.

“I know, but I’m not the most interesting person in the world. What do I have going on besides going on this date?”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, darling,” Rarity said. “You are a former magical unicorn turned best friend. How are you not interesting? Besides, I like being around you. You give me hope.”

“Hope?” I asked.

“You have found someone who really likes you and I can tell there’s something special between you two. All I get are some ‘bros’ who treat me like a piece of meat. All they care about is my body and ignore the lady inside.”

“And I’m usually too shy to talk to anyone. Even if I do like someone, I’m always afraid that I’m going to do something wrong in the first five seconds of talking to a boy. Seeing you this confident and ready to put everything on the table for him makes me think I could do that too someday.”

“There,” Rarity said while taking a step back. “What do you think?”

“I love it,” I said looking into a mirror. As if on cue, the doorbell rang.

“You look stunning, darling,” Rarity said. “Now go on, you wouldn’t want to be late for your own date.”

I went downstairs, took in a deep breath, and opened the door. Sky was standing there wearing a suit with a dark red undershirt and a black tie to match. He looked at me and smiled a warm, gentle smile.

“Wow,” he finally said making me blush. “You look amazing.”

“You don’t look too bad yourself,” I said closing the door behind me.

Sky lead me to his car and opened the door for me. I realized what was playing on the radio and I needed fight every urge to sing along. I failed. I sang along to Maroon 5 under my breath just to make sure I didn’t completely embrace myself in front of Sky, but I think he heard.

“You don’t have to hide it,” he said as he started driving. “I made this for you.”

“What?” I asked.

“I asked your friends what kind of Music you like and I burned some on a CD for you. It’s yours to take. And you don’t have to sing under your breath. I’m sure you have a lovely singing voice.”

“I don’t know about that,” I said as I began to feel a blush.

“Let’s prove it.” Sky reached over and restarted the song. He began singing the opening to Sugar and encouraged me to join in.

I didn’t want to at first. This was my first date and I wanted it to go perfectly. No one remembering me as a demon or me doing something foolish, like singing off key. However, there was something about Sky I couldn’t shake. I felt like I could just be myself. I didn’t need to impress him or make him like me. There wasn’t any tricks or manipulation or lies. There was just us.

I started singing out loud this time and I found myself enjoying it. I felt like I was truly expressing myself for the first time in my life. I felt like I was exactly who I wanted to be, even if Sky was the only person to see it.

“That was beautiful,” Sky said when the song ended. “Why don’t you sing more?”

“I never thought I was good enough. There are so many people out there who are better than me, I just thought they would rather hear them instead of me.”

“Modeling, people person, and singing? You are triple threat Miss Shimmer.”

“Stop it,” I said with a giggle. “What about you? Have you thought about getting back into music?”

“Are you suggesting we become a duo that takes the world by storm?”

“No, I’m just thinking that you probably missed it. It’s been sometime since you and Flash were in a band together and that was the first time you’ve done anything musical around me.”

“I’ll have you know I’ve been writing songs. Operation: Friendship wasn’t just for you. I’ve been writing songs and I plan to give it to Flash in hopes it makes up for the notebook I lost.”

“How are you real?”

“What do you mean?”

“You were brave enough to save me, likeable to the point where everyone likes you, creative enough to get AK Yearling to come here, and kind enough to want to make things up with Flash. I’ve never even thought someone like you could exist.”

“Males aren’t always just hound dogs. Some of us really are good guys and just want to see people happy,” He said as he pulled up the restaurant.

Sky had picked out a classy five-star restaurant for dinner tonight. At first I wondered how he could afford a place like this, but then I remembered how much we could get for one bit. We could be the two richest people in this suburb.

The valet opened my door and I got out of Sky’s vintage car. I was wondering if he really was going to leave his pet project with a stranger who could crash it or crash something into it. I looked over at Sky and he seemed comfortable, so I guess it was fine.

The restaurant welcomed us with a red carpet and soothing music. Sky gave his name to the maitre d’ and he lead us to our seat. I noticed some people where either internationally or unintentionally looking at us and their draws dropped. It reminded me of when I was on the run way. Of course I didn’t like it when guys would treat me like a slab of meat, but I did like being treated as something greater.

“I have a question,” I said after we placed our drink orders. “Why did you stick with me?”

“What do you mean?”

“I was pretty much a lost cause. I used people, manipulated feelings, and tore friendships apart and all this time. I did unforgiveable things and you were still willing to save me? Why did you do it?”

“I’m a soldier and was ordered by Princess Celestia to make sure you were safe and help you return if you wanted to.”

“But you could have said I was fine with Princess Twilight’s friends and I didn’t want to come back. You could have been home with your friends and family and you decided to stay here with me.”

“I don’t know what you think my life was back in Equestria, but I didn’t have anypony. I was orphaned when I was never really close with my parents and didn’t get along with anypony back in the academy. Every night was always a dinner for one and then right to bed. This was kind of a new start for me.”

“Then why ask me out?”

“When you spend enough time with someone, you start to develop emotions for them. Granted, we didn’t actually spend time together, but you were always on my mind. At first it was just part of the job. I need to focus on you and start thinking like you. I guess I blurred the line between business and emotions.”

“So, you saved me on the bridge not because it was your duty, but because you liked me.”

“Like is a strong word…” It took me some time, but I realized I was smiling. “Okay, my turn. Why did you say ‘yes’?”

“You were the first person in this world that showed you cared.”

“Flash didn’t care about you?”

“He did, but I feel like I made him care about me. I wasn’t myself around him so I don’t know if he liked that me or the real me. You, however, saw every side of me. You saw me when I was a two-faced liar and destroyer of friendships. You saw me when I wanted to end it all and you brought me back. You didn’t run form me when everyone else did.”

“I’m touched,” he said with a smile.

The dinner itself was something I’ve never tasted before. Every bite was a different taste that played with my taste buds. Each meal was the best of its kind and nothing I eat could ever compare to it. And the desert. Oh my, the desert. I love anything sweet, but mostly chocolate. This chocolate was imported from Switzerland and kept at the perfect temperature to make sure it doesn’t melt. It’s then used to decorate several small cups of different flavored ice cream and served to us. I don’t think I’ll ever have anything as great again.

“That was incredible,” I said as we entered Sky’s car. “I think you might have just ruined food for me for the rest of my life.”

“I’m glad you liked it. Is there anything else you wanted to do?”

“I don’t know. A movie maybe?”

“Anything in particular you wanted to see? I’m fine with anything.”

“Just don’t pick an explosion fest.”

We saw a comedy-drama about some people making money because of the economic collapse. It was enjoyable, but I wasn’t really interested in the movie. A bit after the movie started, Sky grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers. It was a bold move, but I didn’t expect any less from Sky. As far as I could tell, he was a bold person. I didn’t care. I kind of wanted him to do it. I never wanted this movie to end, so he would have to hold my hand for the rest of our lives.

Unfortunately the movie did end. While I was having the time of my life, I was starting to feel a little tired. Sky said he too was tired and decided to take me home. The car ride was anything but quiet. The two of us were joking around and laughing, but it was more than that to me. To me, it was someone showing how comfortable they are around me. Sky was showing me that he could stand to be around me for more than a couple hours and I wanted him around.

Sky pulled up to my house and he walked me to the door. I was smiling bigger than Pinkie ever could because tonight was perfect.

“I had a wonderful time,” I said as we reached our front door.

“I did too,” he said with a smile to match mine.

“So…I was thinking maybe we do this again some time. You know, like a…second date.”

“I would love that. Just name the time and I’ll be here. I’ll see you around.”

Sky turned around to walk back to his car. There was something I wanted to do for a while. All night Sky has been making bold moves and impressing me every time. Now, it’s my turn.

I called out to Sky before he was too far away. He turned back to me and I kissed him. He wasn’t expecting it at first, but he replied in kind. This was the greatest moment of the night. Time paused for a second so I could savor this moment. Here, the past didn’t matter and future looked bright. Here, I was with the person I loved.

When we pulled out lips apart, all I could do was smile. He told me that was the greatest moment of his life too and he promised to see me tomorrow.

I walked in my house with a skip in my step. Knowing Rarity, she would have stayed here and waited to hear every detail of the night and I just wanted to tell someone. I was actually in love. The best part was I didn’t have to manipulate or lie to him. I found someone who was just as in love with the real me as much as the me I pretended to be.

“Rarity, Coco,” I called out as I took off my shoes,” are you still here?”

“We’re up in your room,” she responded.

I walked up my stairs and started planning out what I was going to say. I needed to tell this story perfectly. I wanted the girls to feel like they were there. I wanted to share every detail of what just happened so I could relive it as well.

“I want to tell you everything that happened.”

“And I would love to hear it, darling. However, there is a surprise up here for you.”

“Surprise?” I asked as I opened the door to my room. “What could you possibly have that could-”

“Hi, Sunset,” a third girl said.

“Twilight?”

The Sun Always Rises

by jl7895

Chapter 1: It's Come to This

Chapter 2: Sunrise

Chapter 3: The Confusing and Happy Day

Chapter 4: A Secret Among Friends

Chapter 5: The Fashion Show

Chapter 6: Nice People

Chapter 7: A Talk in the Park

Chapter 8: Date Night