//------------------------------// // Secrets Cause Tension. // Story: The End. // by Frozen Feathers //------------------------------// Sunset sat alone in the darkness of her bedroom. Her breathing was shallow but calm. She wasn't crying, for she had no more tears to shed. She had two notes clutched in her grip. She was shocked out of her stupor as an alarm on her phone went off. She jumped up and wiped at the dampness lingering under her eyes before reaching for her phone to shut off the incessant ringing. She stood and crossed around the bed where a few bags were stored. She heaved them onto her back with a groan. She folded the notes separately and sealed them with a small piece of tape. She then pocketed her phone and quickly left her apartment, keys in hand. *** It was early on a Saturday morning, and fog clung heavily to the pavement. Sunset's breath plumed in front of her. It was too cold for early March. Nevertheless, she pressed on. She made her way to the school. Just the sight of it made bile crawl up her throat and anxiety pool inside of her. Too many bad memories were here, and they all flickered through her brain. The first time she'd come, thrown out of the portal and onto the cold cement, now trapped alone in a new body. All of the different ways she'd blackmailed people. All of the times she'd hurt people. The memory of being corrupted by the crown stung, and the memory of being hit by the elements was tearing into her skin, ripping her from her. Her hands ached as she saw herself replacing each and every brick. She remembered Twilight, how happy she'd been, and then watched as she'd stolen magic from all of her... friends. Her friends. The shouts tore their way through her mind. She wasn't welcome. She wasn't their friend. Not their friend. Not their friend not their friend not their frien- She broke out of her trance at the sound of the portal lighting up behind her. She glanced at the rippling magic covering the marble. It called to her, but she still had something she needed to do. She steeled her shoulders and walked away from the portal, climbing up the stairs to the front doors. She reached in her pocket and plucked out the key ring. She separated them until she found the right one and inserted it into the door. She jiggled it a few times and it unlocked. She smiled, glad they hadn't changed the locks. When she'd had to rebuild the front of the school, the janitor didn't want to show up on the weekends to let her in. He'd tossed her the key ring, and when she asked why he'd given her all of them, he'd simply responded with 'you say you've changed? Show us.' That had stuck with her. He'd never asked for the keys back and every time she'd tried to give them back, he'd make up some excuse and leave before she could give them back. Every time she left them in the janitors closet, they always found their way back to her desk when she'd walk into class the next day. She was thankful she'd had them now. She roamed the half lit halls until she found her way to her calculus class. She crouched down and slid the first note under the door. It had just been a simple thank you for everything she'd done for the past years. For believing in her. For helping her. She'd left a generic $50 gift card inside. It was all she had. The next place she went was to AJ's locker. She knew the combo, but she instead opted to slide the folded sticky note through the slits in the upper half. She crossed the hall to the janitors closet and hung up the keys one last time. She wouldn't be there to get them back. Her last destination in the school was the Principals office. This one wasn't going to be slid under the door. She unlocked the door and walked inside. It was a modest and tidy office. She didn't go through anything, but instead just set the folded note in the center of the desk. With her final task done, she made her way swiftly out of the office and out of the school. The doors locked automatically, so she didn't need to worry about leaving them open all weekend. She heard them click shut behind her and she hesitated a moment, hand on the cold metal. She rested her head against the glass and said her final goodbyes to the school. Despite all the terrible memories, she had some good ones here too. She remembered laughing so hard at lunch with her friends that she'd almost thrown up. Convincing the librarians to let her stay late to study and having the entire library to herself. Exciting debates in her English class. The times she'd fallen asleep at a library table, crowded with books and her friends. All of the lunches spent outside, eating in the sunshine and sitting on the grassy hills. She sighed and stepped away from the door. She was finished. As she walked away, she had the strangest sense of lifting. It was like some chain that had been holding her here, to all of the bad memories and misery, had been severed. She was leaving everything she'd called home for the past five years behind, and she couldn't be happier about it. A simple sense of happiness filled her. For the first time in a long time, she felt simply...okay. Not overwhelmingly happy, but she was okay with all of the bad things. She'd done what she could and she was leaving them behind. She walked confidently towards the portal. The colors swirled before her. She could sense the magic coming from it. She'd missed that feeling. It embraced her willingly, like welcoming an old friend. It recognized her as a being of magic. She was just about to step into the portal when a sound snatched her attention away. "Sunset?" The voice was timid and unsure. Sunset glanced towards it and stopped. Twilight, this world's Twilight was standing a few yards away. She was bundled in a sweater and scarf. Pens stuck out of her pockets and notebooks weighed down her arms. Spike sat behind her, peering around her legs. Sunset took a few steps back and she felt the pull of the magic lessen slightly. "Twilight. What are you doing here?" she asked, adjusting her bags. Twilight swallowed and held her notebooks a little higher and gesturing to the portal. "The portal hasn't been active for months. I guessed it would light up today, so I came early in hopes of getting here to observe it in private..." she trailed off, eyes wandering to the rippling magic. Sunset smiled. "Of course you were. I'm sorry, I was just about to leave" she said with a tight grin. Twilight glanced between her, the portal, and her loaded bags. Her violet eyes shone with understanding. "Are you... are you going through the portal?" she asked in bewilderment. "No no no, you can't do that! We don't know what'll happen, or where it goes! You could be trapped or killed, or or o-" She stammered as she quickly shuffled through her notes. Sunset cut her off with a raised hand. "It's okay, Twilight. I... I know where it goes, so don't worry" she confessed. She had been staring at the ground and glanced up. Twilight glared at her, confusion and anger mixing on her face. "You knew?" she took a step towards Sunset. "You knew and you never told me? This portal and what it does has been my life for years!" She threw her notebook on the ground. Spike whimpered. "uuh, Twilight..." he whined. Twilight ignored him. "You saw what my desire for this knowledge did to me, and you still never told me?" She was screaming now, face red with anger. Sunset just stood there and took it. She wasn't sure what else she could do. She stared at the ground between them. A few tears dripped down her face, trickling off of her nose. She was strong. She could take this. That didn't mean it didn't really hurt. While she was staring at the ground, she heard a few footsteps approaching. She glanced up and the breath left her body in one fell swoop. She took a few steps back and turned, combing a hand through her hair. "Sweet Celestia, this is just great." she snarled. She felt like someone was driving a knife into her gut and twisting. "What do you five want? What, all of you just coming to yell at me now?" She glared at them, looking like a cornered animal. AppleJack stepped up, holding up her hands. "Just calm down, Sunset. Twilight messaged us a few minutes ago, saying she saw you coming out of the school" she held up her phone and Sunset scanned the message. "What? So you all came here to... what, exactly?" she stepped away when AppleJack tried to place a hand on her shoulder. Twilight spoke up. "Hold on a second, we're not finished yet. You never told me. Why?" she questioned, still angry. Rarity stepped forward. "Told you what?" she asked gently, placing a hand on her arm. Twilight shrugged her off angrily and Rarity pulled back as if she'd been hit. Fluttershy gripped her pale hand and squeezed it comfortingly. "She- she's from.. from there" she spat with disgust, pointing at the portal. Sunset glared at her, defense building a wall in her chest. "There is my home. My real home" Sunset hissed, taking a step towards the portal. Before she could get too close to it though, a pink hand shot out from the crowd and wrapped around her forearm. She looked up and met the owners shimmering blue eyes. "Don't leave us, Sunny. Please." whispered Pinkie. Her hair just barely held a wave. Sunset felt some of her anger seeping away. She let her arm slip out of the grasp until she was barely gripping her fingertips. She looked around the circle of girls. Some of the gazes were angry, some were sad, but only one was desperate. She tugged on Pinkie and pulled her into a tight hug. "Goodbye, Pinkie" she whispered. And before any of them could register what was going on, Sunset slipped through the portal.