//------------------------------// // 13 – Friends // Story: Looking Glass // by Krickis //------------------------------// Chapter Thirteen Friends ⠀ ⠀ Christmas had come and gone, but the mall was still completely packed. People were running around to the different stores, eager to spend their new gift cards or return the presents that they’d only pretended to like. The crowd was far too large and far too noisy. Sunset would never have bothered to go to the mall around the holidays, but there were certain advantages to it. But none of those advantages made it easier to find someone in the horde of shoppers. Checking the large clock in the food court showed that she was early anyway. With nothing to do but sit and wait, she began walking around the tables to find an empty one. Spotting a place to sit, Sunset began to walk towards it but stopped when she saw someone waving. She almost hadn’t noticed; there were lots of people around, and many of them were gesturing towards friends. But it just happened that the person waving was Applejack, and that Sunset would probably always be able to pick her out in a crowd. Her first instinct was to just keep walking. Sunset wasn’t there to meet with Applejack, so why waste time talking with her? But she thought better of it and gave a friendly wave back, shifting course to go to Applejack’s table. She was sitting alone with just a soda in front of her, so it didn’t look like she was in the middle of something that Sunset could get dragged into, and the meeting could easily be spun to Sunset’s benefit. “Hey there, Sunset. How’s it going?” “Applejack,” Sunset said with a friendly nod. She took a seat across from the other girl. “I’m doing alright. Just waiting for someone.” “Me too,” Applejack said. After finishing their project and leaving the library the week before, Sunset had taken Applejack up on her offer to go to Sugarcube Corner. It had been an uncharacteristic move for her, and she spent the whole night trying to figure out what her motivation had been. She hadn’t come up with a satisfactory answer. She told herself that it was only one day, that things would go back to normal at school in the morning, but they hadn’t. Applejack had forgotten her promise to find another seat in class, once again sitting next to Sunset. That was bad, but not unexpected. What was unexpected was that Sunset was kind of happy about it. She told herself that she needed to distance herself from Applejack. Nothing good could possibly come from them growing any closer. “So how was your Christmas?” Sunset asked. Of course, this meeting didn’t count. Sunset was using this for her own gain, which made it completely justified. “It was okay. It’s kinda been a while since I really enjoyed family holidays, though.” Thankfully, Applejack decided not to elaborate on what she meant by that, and instead just shrugged off the potentially awkward conversation. “What about you?” “Eh, I never really liked family holidays.” Sunset smirked. “Or any other holidays for that matter.” Applejack chuckled. “Yeah, I figured that would be the case. So then, any other big plans for the break?” Sunset shrugged. “No, not really. I’m mostly just trying to stay out of the snow.” “I hear ya. Why, just the other day someone went and started throwing snowballs at me for no reason.” “Honestly, what’s this world coming to?” Sunset shook her head and sighed. “But it’s probably not worth worrying about too much. I’m sure she’s just a huge bitch.” “Oh, there’s no doubt there. But ya know, I kinda get the feelin’ that there’s a bit more to her than that.” “I’m going to have to respectfully disagree.” Sunset leaned across the table and grabbed Applejack’s drink. “That kind of thinking gets snow thrown at your face.” Applejack watched as Sunset took a drink. It tasted disgusting, like it was mostly water with just a small amount of soda remaining. “And that,” Applejack said, pointing to the cup in Sunset’s hands, “was already on the table when I got here.” Sunset spit out what she hadn’t swallowed. “Gross. But I guess I had that coming.” Applejack laughed, which caused Sunset to smile a little. “Want to get some sodas while we wait?” “Nah, I’ll pass.” As usual, Sunset didn’t have any money on her. Applejack had paid for them the other night and might be willing to do so again, but Sunset didn’t want to count on that, lest she put herself in a position where she owed Applejack something in return. And, just maybe, there was a small part of her that didn’t want Applejack to spend her money on somebody like her. “I’m not really thirsty.” “Well this is a surprise,” Violet Dusk said as she walked up to their table. Sunset decided on a sheepish smile. She didn’t want to look too happy, or else Violet might realize that Sunset had been hoping she’d walk up while she was still talking to Applejack. “Oh, hey there, Mrs. Dusk.” “Good afternoon, Sunset.” Violet turned to Applejack and smiled. “I hope I’m not interrupting.” “No, we’re just killing time. Oh, uh, this is Applejack.” Sunset gestured to Applejack, and then to Violet. “And Applejack, this is Violet Dusk.” “Pleased to meet you, ma’am.” Applejack stuck out her hand, which Violet shook. “Likewise. I’ve never had the chance to meet any of Sunset’s friends before.” Applejack chuckled. “Wonder why that would be.” Sunset frowned and narrowed her eyes. Applejack was supposed to be helping her look good, not reminding Violet of her anti-social behavior. “Well, she’s got me now,” Applejack said with confidence. She turned to address Sunset. “And if ya want, me and another one of my friends are gonna be headin’ over to the arcade for a bit. You should come find us once you’re done.” Sunset wondered if she could refuse with Violet standing right next to them. She really wasn’t interested in meeting any of Applejack’s other friends. “Maybe.” At least Applejack didn’t push for a more definitive answer. “Well alright then, suppose I’ll see you later one way or the other.” “Oh, yeah. See you.” Sunset watched as Applejack stood up and walked away, taking the cup with her. As she left, Sunset felt a small pull in her chest. It seemed there had been a little bit of joy there that Sunset hadn’t even noticed, but Applejack had taken it with her. “Do you two go to school together?” Violet asked as she took the seat Applejack had been in. Shaking herself free of any lingering thoughts, Sunset fixed her composure. She didn’t want to oversell anything, so she just assumed a neutral expression. “Yeah. We have history class together.” Violet smirked. “Applejack… So then, I suppose you two share history in more ways than one.” Sunset frowned and sunk further into her chair. Since she did her best to forget that day, Sunset had almost forgotten that Violet had been there too. “Yeah, I guess.” “I’m happy to see you’re finally making some friends.” “Well… ‘some’ might be a bit of an overstatement.” “From the sounds of it, you might make another today.” That seemed unlikely, but Sunset wasn’t going to argue. “I guess.” Although Violet was smart enough to realize that Sunset wouldn’t willingly make friends, she was also smart enough to welcome an unexpected victory. One friend was more than Sunset had ever had before. “And I hear you’ve been behaving yourself this past week.” “Today’s the first day I’ve even left the orphanage since school got out. I’ve been a good girl.” That news didn’t seem to win over Violet as much as Sunset thought it would. “I’m worried you’re not taking this seriously enough.” Sunset pulled herself back into a fully upright position. “What else do you want me to do? I said I’d pull my grades up and stay out of trouble, and I will.” “I believe you.” Violet folded her hands on the table, and her gaze reminded Sunset that she could never let her guard down around the social worker. “I’m just wondering if you’re doing it for the right reasons.” In the end, it didn’t really matter. Violet and Sunset both knew she was just going through the motions, but so long as she went through them well enough, there wasn’t really anything for Violet to do. “Maybe try giving me a chance before writing me off as a failure?” “I’m not writing you off as a failure. You’re without a doubt one of the smartest kids I’ve ever worked with, and I know you can achieve great things.” “Doesn’t sound like it.” Violet considered her response for a moment. It was easy to see her dilemma; she had probably heard other kids falsely claim they’d behave better far too many times to take it at face value, but she also didn’t want to say anything that would push Sunset away. “You have a lot of potential. I don’t think you’ve ever failed in a goal you genuinely applied yourself towards.” Failed in a goal? Only if they counted the years Sunset had spent looking for some clue about her past that wasn’t a delusional land of make-believe. The only goal that she had ever really cared about. But why count a little thing like that when she could score well on tests? “But?” Sunset prompted. “But you do need to earnestly apply yourself to your future.” Violet sighed and tapped her fingers on the table. “It’s not that I don’t believe in you, Sunset, it’s that sometimes I think you don’t believe in you.” Of all the ridiculous things to say. “Please, it’s like you don’t know me. I’m the best, and I know that as well as anyone.” “There’s a difference between knowing something and believing it. And quite frankly, nothing about your behavior suggests you have as much confidence in yourself as you pretend to have.” “That’s completely unfounded.” “The lack of caring about your grades even when you could succeed easily? Skipping school? Stealing?” Violet inclined her head and arched an eyebrow. “Drinking?” Sunset turned away. They had already met once to talk about that, but she had known it was going to come back up. They didn’t normally meet twice within a week, after all. “All of these quite clearly indicate that you don’t care about your future,” Violet continued in a matter of fact tone. “And if you don’t care about your future, I’d have to speculate it’s because you don’t have a lot of faith in it.” “Or maybe I’ll just take care of it when it comes,” Sunset replied bitterly. “Like everything else.” “You know it doesn’t have to be that way. It’ll be easier if you at least put forth a little effort now.” “And I said I would.” Sunset was tempted to walk away. She probably would have, but Violet would just interpret that as proof of her point. “What do you want me to do? I know I screwed up, but I can’t just fix everything in a week. You have to give me time.” “I’m not attacking you,” Violet said calmly. “But you won’t get your act together for me, or for Ms. Rose, or for anyone else. You need to do it for you, because that’s the only way you’ll stick with it. So here’s what I want you to do. What I really want isn’t just for you to behave yourself, or to get good grades, or anything else like that. I want you to find something you genuinely want in your future. Something that will honestly make you happy that you can work towards.” “Fine.” Sunset leaned on the table. “I’ll think long and hard about what I want to be when I grow up. And I’ll be sure to make you proud by picking a nice respectable career.” “Quite frankly, I don’t care if you want to travel across the country as a rock musician. Just so long as it’s something that you care about enough to not want to throw away.” Sunset smirked. “Yeah, that’d be great. I could pick up a heroine addiction along the way.” “We’re going to try and avoid that part.” Although she didn’t smile, Sunset couldn’t help but think that Violet was at least somewhat amused. Sunset stretched her arms over her head. “Alright then. I’ll try and figure out something that I want to do with myself.” “Good.” Violet pulled out her phone to check the time. “I had planned on this meeting being a little longer, but if you want to catch up with your friend then I suppose the important stuff is out of the way.” Typical. Violet hadn’t expressly stated that Sunset had to spend time with Applejack – there wasn’t anything to be gained from forced interaction, after all – but she had made it clear that she expected it. The subtle manipulation didn’t bother Sunset, though. In fact, she had counted on it. “Alright. So will I see you again in a week?” Violet thought about it for a moment. “No. Unless I hear something that changes my mind, then I’ll see you next month.” That was better than Sunset had expected; she thought she’d be stuck with weekly visits well into the new year. “Sounds good to me. See you later then.” Sunset walked off in the vague direction that Applejack had left in. Despite the obvious implication, Sunset hadn’t actually said she was going to look for Applejack. And either way, Violet wasn’t likely to catch her in this crowd. Sunset was free to do what she wanted to. So what did she want to do? Catching up with Applejack was out of the question. She was with one of her friends, and Sunset didn’t do groups. Besides, it wasn’t like she really wanted to hang out with Applejack anyway. Leaving the mall might be the safer bet, since it would eliminate all chance of seeing either Applejack or Violet, but it was freezing outside. She didn’t feel like loitering around in the snow, so any outdoor activities weren’t happening. The library would be open and probably her best bet, but that still meant a miserable trudge through the snow. Maybe she would have been better off if she’d just waited out whatever else Violet had to say to her, then she could have gotten a ride back to New Horizons. Sunset stopped in place when she realized where she had walked. Although she had only meant to give the illusion she was going to the arcade, she found herself standing in front of it. ‘It’s just because it was on my mind since that’s where I wanted Violet to think I was going.’ She began walking again, moving past it. The store next to the arcade was some frilly girl store, full of things like makeup that Sunset didn’t have any reason to care about. She ducked into it anyway. There were a number of other stores around that she preferred, many of which had lax employees and no kind of real security. But she felt the need to get away from the arcade entrance as fast as possible, so it would have to do. At least there was no chance that she would be recognized here. She was technically banned from the mall, but she didn’t really think anyone remembered that. Still, better safe than sorry. Sunset idly browsed a wall full of earrings, but she wasn’t really paying attention to them. Her mind was wandering back to Applejack and the arcade. She told herself it was stupid to keep thinking about, which of course opened the way for her to wonder why she was thinking about it so much in the first place. This was ridiculous. There was no reason to hide away in a store she didn’t like from a person she didn’t care about. Deciding that snow or not she was going to go to the library, Sunset turned and began walking away from the earrings. She did not, however, look before she began walking, and found herself colliding with another girl who had been right next to her. “Ah!” The other girl jumped back and held up her hands. “Terribly sorry, I really didn’t mean to invade your personal space.” Sunset sighed and straightened her jacket. “It’s fine.” The other girl had snow white skin and long wavy purple hair. While the store they were in was far too girly for Sunset’s tastes, this girl looked like she wouldn’t dream of shopping anywhere else. “I was just so excited to see what new items they had in stock, but that’s no excuse for my rudeness.” Sunset gave her a deadpan stare, then shook her head and began walking away. “I said it’s fine.” “Er, right.” Before Sunset could get too far, the other girl ran up to her. “You know, darling, I think I know just the shade of lipstick that would really accentuate your coloration, if you’d allow me a moment to show you.” Sunset turned back to find the other girl was practically overflowing with excitement. “Do you, like, work here or something?” “Oh no, I would just like to make up for my rudeness. And I am rather good at this sort of thing, if I do say so myself. It’s a bit of a passion of mine.” Although she was beginning to get annoyed, Sunset also didn’t really feel like causing a scene. “I literally ran into you. You don’t have to make anything up to me.” She turned to leave, but the other girl ran in front of her. “Alright fine, if you must know… I’m trying to make a good impression on the manager here so that she’ll consider hiring me once I’m old enough to apply. But I really would also love the chance to help you unlock the potential of your natural beauty!” Sunset grinned. To hell with it, at this point she was practically begging to get told off. It wasn’t like Sunset would care about getting kicked out of this particular store. “Well now,” she said in an overly sweet voice, “that’s very thoughtful of you. But you know, I…” The rest of Sunset’s response died before it could reach her lips. She just found herself staring out of the entrance at the mall walkway. The other girl cocked her head to the side. “Er, what was that?” Sunset’s features deflated as she suddenly lost all interest in saying anything hurtful, no matter how much of a pest the girl was being. “I just saw a friend of mine head into another store. Good luck with… whatever it is you’re doing.” “Oh, er… alright then…” Although she looked disappointed, the girl didn’t do anything else to stop Sunset from leaving. ‘God dammit, Applejack!’ Sunset could have used the chance to let loose on someone. It would’ve helped ease some of the stress she’d felt since her secret stash of wine had been discovered. But then Applejack had to go walking by, and just like that her intentions melted away. It was almost enough for Sunset to go find Applejack and give her an earful instead. But Sunset knew she wouldn’t do that. She couldn’t exactly place why she wouldn’t do that, but she knew it all the same. Which begged the question of why exactly she was still following Applejack into a different store. At least it was a store Sunset liked. It was a music store, although their prices were far too high. Of course, that had never been a problem for Sunset. She looked around and quickly spotted Applejack. She had a pair of headphones on and was listening to one of their new CD demos. Sunset walked over to her and lifted one of the earpieces off of her. “Country,” she mused. “You could at least try to not be predictable.” Applejack pulled off the headphones and grinned. “Hey, Sunset! Glad ya came after all.” Sunset just shrugged. “Yeah, well, I wasn’t really doing anything anyway. So where’d your friend get to?” “Bathroom. She’s meeting me here. Ya might know her. Golden Harvest, goes to school with us?” Sunset thought for a minute, but no one came to mind. “I dunno. Maybe I’ve seen her around, but the name doesn’t ring a bell.” Applejack chuckled. “Of course. Why’d I ever think the terrible Sunset Shimmer would get to know her classmates?” It was kind of cute how Applejack thought the ‘terrible’ thing was a joke. “So do you listen to any real music?” “Sure do,” Applejack said proudly. “Do you?” Sunset grinned and led the way to a different aisle. “Once you hear this band, you’ll never listen to that crap again.” “Fine, I’ll give it a shot. But I betcha I can find a country band that you like by the end of the day.” A day spent listening to country music? Sunset had to wonder if she would’ve been better off in the store with the makeup. Still, she found it easy to smile in spite of the circumstances. “You know what? Sure. I’ll take that bet.” Sunset set Applejack up with one of her favorite artists. She’d been tempted to go straight for the heavy metal, just to see Applejack’s expression, but she decided to take it easy on her and opted for a folk artist that wouldn’t be too far from what she was used to. She set up the CD to play her favorite song, then handed the headphones to Applejack. She closed her eyes to listen to the music, which made Sunset smile. While she waited to hear Applejack’s thoughts on the CD, she began looking through the others on the shelf. ‘Hey, I didn’t know Thistle’s new CD was out.’ Sunset glanced around and didn’t see anyone looking so she discreetly tucked the CD into her jacket pocket. “Ya know, this is pretty good,” Applejack said. Sunset turned to find she was just opening her eyes from the music. Perfect, she hadn’t seen anything. “See? What’d I tell you.” “ ‘Course I already knew that, seein’ as I have this CD at home.” “No way, you’re a Daybreak fan?” Applejack adopted a cocky grin. “Sure am! So then, still doubt my music tastes?” Sunset shrugged. “Well… yes. But what the hell, I’ll give it a shot. Bring it on, give me your worst.” “Careful whatcha wish for. But if ya like Daybreak, I think I know a good one.” Applejack led them back to the country aisle, and Sunset found herself genuinely curious to hear what Applejack usually listened to. Still, she couldn’t feel quite as excited as she had when she was showing off her own music tastes. As much as she wanted to write it off as weariness towards country music, she knew better. Sunset pulled the CD out from her pocket. “Have you heard Thistle and Weeds yet?” She handed the CD to Applejack, who looked it over. “Nope. Any good?” “Well, I haven’t heard that one yet, but their last album was pretty amazing.” ‘Dammit, Applejack.’ Why did her presence make things so difficult? Now she’d have to wait to listen to it. “I’ll check them out next, but first I got something good for ya. Here, listen to this one.” Even with her plan foiled, Sunset didn’t really mind too much. Stranger still, Sunset was almost more interested in hearing what Applejack thought of them then hearing their new album herself. ‘I guess that’s worth sitting through some country music.’ Applejack put on the headphones for a moment to find the song she wanted Sunset to hear. But as Sunset was occupying herself with looking at the CD she wanted, somebody else walked up to them. “What are you doing here?” Sunset looked over to see a girl whom she assumed was the friend Applejack had mentioned. It was kind of funny seeing her and Applejack in the same place; whereas Applejack had orange skin and blonde hair, the girl beside her had yellow skin and orange hair. And unfortunately, Sunset did recognize her. “Golden Harvest.” Sunset smirked and looked around. “I was just listening to some music. Pretty sure I’m allowed to do that, you know.” Golden Harvest glared at her. “Can’t you do that somewhere else?” Sunset’s smirk grew into a full grin. “Ooh, somebody’s getting a little bold.” She loved the way Golden Harvest’s features fell. Sunset had barely done anything, and she was already intimidated. Then Applejack spoke up, and Sunset’s enjoyment vanished. “Okay, I found a good one. Here, try – Oh, hey there, Goldie!” At least that brought a little mirth back for Sunset. ‘Goldie!’ Golden Harvest was certainly embarrassed by the name, which made it even better. “So this is Sunset Shimmer, and Sunset, this is the friend I was talkin’ about.” “The pleasure’s all mine,” Sunset said. She had no doubt that it was. Golden Harvest looked between Applejack and Sunset. “Uh, AJ? Can I talk to you for a minute?” As much as Sunset loved watching ‘Goldie’ squirm over the thought of Applejack hanging around someone like the terrible Sunset Shimmer, she also knew there was an unavoidable problem coming up. Applejack was already picking up on the issue. “Uh, do you two… know each other?” Golden Harvest didn’t say anything. Even if she was emboldened by being around her friend and outside of school, she knew there was a limit. Sunset could twist the situation easily enough. Golden Harvest could be convinced to hold her tongue around Applejack, and Sunset would be able to keep Applejack unaware of her past exploits. “Yeah, we met back in sixth grade.” Sunset thought of how best to send the warning to Golden Harvest. But then again, what was she even bothering for? She wasn’t going to enjoy spending the day trying to keep Golden’s mouth shut, so she might as well leave. “We, uh, we’ve got a bit of a history, so I’ll just let you two get back to your date. Later, AJ.” It shouldn’t have come as a surprise that Applejack would try to stop her. And really, it didn’t. Not the attempt itself, but the way Applejack stopped her was surprising. As Sunset had tried to wave goodbye, Applejack had grabbed her wrist to hold her in place. That was all, nothing dramatic. But nobody ever tried to touch Sunset. Nobody except Applejack. And honestly, Sunset didn’t particularly like to be touched. Except, perhaps, by Applejack. Applejack maintained her hold on Sunset’s wrist as she spoke. “Now hold up a second. There ain’t no need for all that. Sunset, Golden lives down the street from me. I’ve known her my whole life. And Golden, well, I haven’t really known Sunset all that long, but I do know that she’s not as bad as she wants everyone to think she is. Ain’t no reason we can’t all get along.” Golden Harvest looked like Applejack had struck her. “AJ, she’s… You just don’t know her like I do.” “Come on now,” Applejack said in that frustratingly optimistic tone. The one that always seemed to promise things would be okay, even when they never could be. “Whatever happened last year’s in the past. I’m sure if we talked about it, then –” “What do you think it says about me that your friend is too afraid to tell you what actually happened?” Sunset snatched her hand away and shoved that one in her pocket as well. She turned to Golden Harvest. “Go on then. Tell her what happened.” Golden opened her mouth to talk, but didn’t say anything. Sunset laughed. “See? She’s still scared. Frankly, I’m impressed she managed to bring anything up at all. You should consider yourself lucky, AJ. She’s willing to risk a lot to keep you from falling into one of my traps.” All of Applejack’s optimism seemed to be gone. “Sunset, what did you –” “Hey! Hey you there!” A store clerk seemed to notice their heated discussion. Possibly more to the point, he seemed to notice Sunset. “I know you! You stay right there, security’s gonna have a word with you.” It was hard to decide if his timing was perfect or horrible. “Hey, genius! Maybe try calling security before saying something next time? Fucking idiot, no wonder you still work at the mall even though you’re like forty.” She walked backwards and grinned at Applejack and Golden Harvest. “Well, that’s my cue to get the fuck out of here. But you two feel free to stick around to give the mall cop a statement. Later!” “Kid, stop!” “Sunset!” Sunset calmly walked out of the store, then locked eyes with a security guard. “Son of a…” She wasn’t sure how he got there so fast, but she wasn’t sticking around to find out. She began ducking through people, using her smaller size to her advantage. “Stop! Don’t move!” Had that ever worked for him? Ignoring his shouts, Sunset kept running until she was out of the front door, then abruptly turned. She made for the nearest car and slid under it. From her vantage point, she saw the security guard’s feet as he left the mall. He paused to look around, but quickly gave up when he didn’t see her. She took a few moments to catch her breath, then crawled out from under the car. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that she had been lucky. With how crowded the mall had been, it was incredible that none of the shoppers had thought to grab her. It had happened before, and was pretty much the only way she’d ever gotten caught. Sunset sighed and put her hands in her pockets. She frowned when she felt something hard, and pulled it out. “Forgot about that,” she mumbled as she looked down at the CD. She had meant to put it back, but must have absent mindedly put it in her pocket when Golden Harvest had shown up. ‘Guess I’ll get to listen to it after all.’ Going back in the mall was out of the question, so she leaned against the car to decide her next move. She jumped away as the alarm went off. Figuring that the last thing she needed was to be accused of burglarizing someone’s car, she started walking. Unfortunately, the noise caught someone else’s attention. “Sunset! Wait up!” Sunset winced at the voice. She didn’t bother to turn around, she didn’t really want to look Applejack in the face. “Leave me alone, AJ. Haven’t you figured out by now that I’m trouble?” “What happened between you and Golden Harvest?” Applejack demanded. Sunset couldn’t quite place her voice. It was somewhere between anger and fear. It was exactly what Applejack should feel, but Sunset hated the way it sounded. “Why don’t you ask her?” “Well, I… I guess I’d like to hear from both of you.” There it was, creeping back in already. That stupid fucking optimism. That hope that somehow Sunset could say something that would make the whole thing okay. That she’d say she was sorry and Golden Harvest would forgive her, and they’d all laugh about it before the day was out. Sunset looked down at the CD still in her hands and found she didn’t really want it anymore. She turned back to Applejack. Although she’d planned on wearing a cocky grin, she couldn’t manage it. Not when she saw the way Applejack looked. The hope mixed with the fear and with the anger, and it hurt to see. She tossed the CD, and Applejack caught it. “You should give them a shot. They’re pretty great.” Applejack looked down at it. “What? Did you…?” “Steal it? Yeah, I did. Throw it out if you don’t want it, it’s all the same to me. Anyway, I’ll see you around. Or, you know, maybe I won’t, if you finally figured out that I’m not such a good person after all.” For once, Applejack didn’t stop her as she walked away. Did Sunset want her to? She couldn’t even tell. But of course, why would she? Golden Harvest was Applejack’s friend, and she was probably pretty upset about everything. Applejack would go and talk to her, and she’d share that stupid optimism of hers, and eventually it would work its way through to Golden Harvest. Soon, the two of them would be laughing about the crazy day they had. Because that’s just the kind of thing friends did together. And Sunset? Well, Sunset didn’t have any friends. So instead, she walked back to the orphanage she lived at, through the snow, cold and alone.