//------------------------------//
// Deep Bellow The Ground 
// Story: The Circus Of Pretending 
// by Why To Know My Name 
//------------------------------//

Sunset Shimmer watched her former friends interact with the new robots, as she looked sadly at their faces. She tried talking to them before, but they wouldn't listen to her! Damn, Rainbow Dash even punched her once. Applejack and Rainbow Dash would mostly act agressive around her, while the rest of the group would simply ignore the former unicorn. In an attempt to take her mind away from her recent loss of her only friends, Sunset Shimmer looked at the new animatronics, smiling at how cute they actually looked. This smile didn't last, though, as she wiped it away as soon as she brought it up, feeling tears come up on her eyes. One thing that Sunset Shimmer always hated was crying in public. She felt weak everytime she cried in front of others. She felt pathetic. Shen then got up as quickly as possible and ran out of the caffeteria, through the endless looking corridors of CHS... Until she tripped over something. The red haired girl fell to the ground, letting the tears run free out of her eyes. Sunset looked behind her, and spotted an small plushie of a white wolf with some pink details and a chicken hand puppet. It seemed to be somehow a fusion of two of the animatronics she saw earlier on stage. She slowly reached for it, carefully looking at the small plush animal in her trembling hands. 
''W- Who would leave that here...?'' She asked herself. ''This one doesn't even look like any of the  ones at the caffeteria...'' She thought out loud. She looked at every possible way around the corridor, and having no sight of someone, she got up and headed to the classroom to gather her stuff and go home, taking the plush with her. 




Rarity looked in awe at the machine in front of her. The tall, blue haired and graceful dancer was indeed, a scene to behold. Each move she did was carefully measured b the creator of such robot. But something was rather odd about that one robot, in Rarity's eyes. eyes... Is it because the graceful dancer never opens her eyes? Is it the rotting smell that comes from that wonderful ballerina? Is that... Strange energy that surrounds the robots? Rarity couldn't quite put her finger on it... She stared at the ballerina, without even noticing that she was actually staring at the mechanical dancer. She could take an auditive hint of the music box that she played during the whole show, as well as gears, and... Something else. The robot then allowed her own voice echoe through the fashionista's ears.
''Is someone there?'' She asked calmly.
Rarity's spine froze as the robot's voice came to her ears. Her voice sounded normal, but... Something there wasn't really normal. One could say the the ballerina's question was simple, but Rarity would say that the way she asked it... It sounded more like a thread. Rarity's guts to answer such a simple question seemed to fade in a matter of seconds. The fashionista decided to head back to her group of friends. As the dancer had no response, she followed her programmation, and continued dancing.


Two hours later...

 
Celestia allowed the students to go home earlier. It's almost Christmas, for God's sake! Let the kids enjoy some time at home, and even some extra time for their homework. As the sea of the students walked through the corridors, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow 	Dash shared a conversation among themselves.
"Um... H- has anyone seen Sunset...?'' Fluttershy asked meekly. The other girls would look away with a disgsted look or look down with a frown.
''Why do you even care?'' Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. Fluttershy stood silent, not knowing why she would or should care about said girl.
''Well, she did try to talk to us...'' Fluttershy replied. ''Don't you think that there should be a reason for that?'' The meek girl asked.
''I still think that she's just some manipulative bitch.'' Rainbow Dash said.
''I don't know... If she's really back to her old self... Why would she-'' Fluttershy barelly had the time to finish her setence, as Applejack slashed into the conversation.
''Listen, sugarcube, I know you and Sunset became really good friends and all but... Let's face it. She was using us all along.'' She said.
Fluttershy opened her mouth for an argument, but decided to stay quiet. 
''So, that whole sleepover thing at my house is still up?'' Applejack asked.
''Sure is!'' Rainbow Dash said. ''Can't wait to have some apple pi-'' She stopped her setence as she noticed the girls slightly glaring at her. ''AND also, being with my friends.'' She said. The girls smiled and walked to the front yard of the school.



Sunset rushed through the stairs of the building where she lived, opening the door to her apartment as quick as she could. Once inside, she kicked her boots off and tossed her backpack away carelessly, as she rushed to her room and threw herself at her bed, shoving her face in her already soaked pillow. The girl then started sobbing, thinking about the loss of her only family, friends and her own patience. This has been her routine since the whole Anon-A-Miss thing started. Sunset would come from school walking,  since she had no money to take the bus, quickly open the doors to her small and messy space, randomly toss her belongings around the house and throw herself in the bed, crying to her sleep. She would usually remember how painful the words that her friends spit at her were at the first time she heard them. And she would feel even worse everytime she thought that in every other time she heard the same words... It wouldn't hurt that much. She then started cutting herself for the pain, in the hope it would make her feel alive. But it didn't helpat all. Sunset would faint from the pain she introduced herself sometimes. It was terrible. But it was an addiction of hers.
"Talking about which...'' Sunset thought, as she lifted herself from the bed and headed to the kitchen. Or  at least, she planned to head to the kitchen, but she stopped in the middle of her own track, noticing that her backpack was now open. 

But how?
No one else lives with her... Sunset walked tothe open bag and checked if anyting was mmissing, and surprisingly enough, anything was missing. Except for the plush that she found earlier. Sunset looked around the small room for any signs of the small stuffed animal, but she found nothing. After having no success at her search for the plushie, Sunset gave up and walked to her small kitchen. The girl then let ot a small shriek of surprise, finding the plushie she was looking for sitting by the sink, staring at the kitchen's doorway, as if it was expecting her. Sunset looked terrified at the small animal, slowly reaching her hand to pick it up.
''Are you all that surprised because I moved?'' An feminine voice echoed through the room, making Sunset freeze in place.
''W- what?!'' The former unicorn screamed. ''How the...?! WHAT??'' The girl shrieked in confusion and fear, bacing away from the sink where the plushie would be found.
''Oh, quit it, woman.'' The plush talked to her yet again, as it got up from the sink and jumped to the ground, walking to Sunset's feet. ''I don't bite... Well, I do, but I have no teeth. Ehh, wait... I do have teeth buut... Eh, they're plush too. So even if I bit you, it wouldn't even tickle you.'' The small wolf said.
''That's NOT the point!'' Sunset screamed. ''HOW CAN YOU TALK??'' She asked in horror. 
''Hey, hey, no need to scream. My ears are sensible. And nice to meet you too, name's HellHound, and that's ChiChi.'' She pointed to the chicken hand puppet. Sunset let out an irritated growl.
''HOW CAN YOU TAAAAAAALK?????'' Sunset shouted.
''Eugh... Less scandal about me. Not like you're supposed to know much about me just yet. Now, let's talk about you.'' The tiny plush climbed to Sunset's foot and used it as an bed to herself. ''I did heard you crying, after all.'' HellHound said, placing her tiny plush hands behind her head. Sunset rolled her eyes and shook HellHound off of her foot, revolting the tiny plush. 
''That's not of your business.'' Sunset stated.
''Well, I state it is now.'' HellHound got up, picking up her tiny top hat an fixing her small bowtie.
''And since when you have these rights at my house and being a... Plushie?'' Sunset asked the small wolf.
''Well,'' HellHound placed her top hat back in her own head and looked up to Sunset. ''Since I arrived here, which makes that, uuuh... I'd guess 4:20PM of today? Eeeh, anything like that.'' HellHound waved dismissively at the subject brought up by herself.
''Ugh..'' Sunset facepalmed. ''Look at me... Discussing the power over my own house with a plush that is probably an hallucination.'' The red haired girl told herself, slowly sliding herself from the wall to the floor. HellHound, however, seemed triggered about being tagged as an hallucination.
''I ain't no hallucination!" She stated. The plushie then hooped to Sunset's lap. ''Since you're so curious, I'll tell you who am I."