//------------------------------// // Only Tomorrow // Story: Sunset Among Shadows // by RedPegasus //------------------------------// Sunset carefully observes the document on her desk, looking over the personal data she filled in. At the moment, it seemed like a good idea. Nobody wanted her at school, and she did not want to go back. It was better to forget everything there and try to start over. A new school, a new opportunity, a new life. But as soon as she arrived at her apartment and prepared to fill the empty spaces, she doubted her decision. Was this what she really wanted? Or was it just the heat of the moment causing her to make a hasty decision? Did she really want to leave everything behind? That school had been something very similar to a home for more than five years. Whether it was being an oppressor or a friend, that school was once everything for her. The answer, however, was so simple, so obvious. She didn't want to leave school, she didn't want to leave her friends, and she didn't want to leave behind the good times she had lived there. But... it was not her decision any longer. She has left nothing; theschoolhas lefther.Herfriendshave lefther.The good times were gone, never, it seemed, to return. There was simply nothing that could convince her to stay. Nothing... except hope... Hope that one day, everything would be settled, that her friends would trust her again, that the school would accept her again, and that everything would be as it was so recently. A hope that was falling apart more and more with each passing day. It had been a long time, with a lot of pain and with many tears shed, but no more. She could not bear that any longer. All day, she had behaved like her old self in an unconscious attempt to escape that torture. It felt awful. She did not want to be like that again. Things would never be the same again. Her friends had abandoned her, and if they did not want to be with her anymore, well... that's the way it will be. For a while, she sits motionless, observing the document. All the empty spaces had been filled, except for one... "The student will be transferred fromCanterlot High Schoolto _____________." She had not thought about it before. She had just been focused on leaving school, but where would she go? What other schools were there? And which one could she even enter? Her grades were far from stellar; one does not focus on school when one is more interested in conquering the world. She had recently become serious in her studies, but she could never fix her previous low grades in such a short time period. She lets out a sigh and gets up, walking into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of milk. She takes her time with the glass, trying to distract herself from her problem, but all too soon, she finishes the glass. Upon sullenly arriving back in her room, she spots a photograph of her and her friends together, smiling widely. Her eyesight blurs, and she growls with annoyance. She irritably flips the frame face-down so as not to see the image. It doesn't help much, because when she looks up, she only sees more photos on the walls and even on some of the furniture, reminders of a happy past from a mere few weeks ago. A mixture of anger and sadness takes hold of her, and in a sudden frenzy, she takes each photograph, each memory, and throws it against the ground, each shattering sound mirroring the shattering of her heart. Breathing hard, she looks at the broken glass strewn around the floor. A couple tears escape her eyes, but she quickly eliminates them. She was tired of crying, tired of remembering. The magic of friendship, the one that had promised her a life full of happiness, had failed her. It hurt. It hurt so much. She would not go through that pain again. She takes her laptop and quickly begins her search. *S*A*S* Principal Celestia remains silent, inspecting the document in her hands. She takes more time than necessary in a desperate attempt to delay the inevitable. Sunset remains seated in front of her, patiently waiting for the woman to make that paper official. Soon, Celestia concludes that she had wasted enough of her own and Sunset’s time, and she speaks up. "Well, everything is in order..." She would have liked to say the opposite, to invent an excuse, just to keep the girl in that school, but she could not. It would not be proper on the part of a school principal, and it would not be fair, either, on the part of anyone... "Just... one question..." "One"... A hundred would have been more accurate. "The school you have chosen: Are you sure that it's what you want?" Sunset does not respond immediately. Instead, she looks at the ground, as if thinking about how to respond. When she finally does, her curt answer slices through the thick tension of the room. "…I'm sure." "... I'm just saying... it's not a school that... I mean, at an academic level, it's excellent, but what it is... in social aspects... and please don't think I have something against it, but... maybe it's not... what you're used to..."Celestia finishes lamely. Hypocrisy? Where? There was so much that bothered her about that school, but she could not say or do anything about it. It was not her school, and she had to look and act professionally. The fire-haired girl closes her eyes, again taking a moment before responding. "I'm sure." The principal opens her mouth to say something, but she stays quiet. She looks at the paper again in sorrowful silence. "...I must ask one more time, Sunset..."Both women look into each other's eyes, and the older woman feels her own begin to burn."Are you... completely sure... that this is what you want?" There is no answer, but the younger woman’s emerald eyes never left hers. The silence, and that look, were sufficient. Resignedly, Celestia takes a pen from her desk and brings the tip close to the document. She feels a slight tremor in her hand, but she forces her muscles to move. Slowly, almost fearfully, she completes the last field of the document with her own name. This and an ink stamp ends the matter, and she returns the paper to the girl. Her voice was muffled. "…It's done…" Sunset looks at the document, and then at the principal. "Thank you, Principal Celestia." There were things both of them wanted to say, but sadly, neither could form the words or gather the courage to do so. Sunset stands up and, with a kind of bow, turns around to leave the room. A voice in Celestia's head shouts at her to do something, but she does not. The girl leaves the office without looking back, and when the door closes, leaving her alone, Celestia's strength leaves her. She hides her face in her palms and tries to silence her sobs. *S*A*S* The day, Sunset’s final day at Canterlot High School, moved forward, but Sunset paid no attention to anything. Not to the classes, not to the aggression, not even to the hours. By the time she realized that the final bell had rung and that classes had finished, almost all of the students had already left. Walking down the hall, eyes straight ahead without really looking at anything, she is lost in her thoughts about her present and future, until she finally walks through the doors of the school. The first thing she sees outside is the statue, the one that serves as the entrance and exit to her native world. She thought of the day when she returned to her "home" just to steal that crown in order to use its power and what happened at the end of it all. It seemed so long ago, and yet, it was so fresh in her memory. The night that had changed everything, only for it to all change back in one fell swoop. She was so focused on her memories that she doesn't realize that someone is running towards her. The person in question doesn’t notice Sunset’s presence either until it’s too late. Sunset feels something slam into her back. Stumbling forward, Sunset keeps her footing and turns to see a young girl on the ground, one who knows perfectly what has been going on at school. Apple Bloom, Applejack's younger sister, complains about the impact and the fall, before she looks up to meet the eyes of the former equine. "S-Sunset Shimmer..." The farmgirl looks into the eyes of the older girl, which are fixed on her. Her expression is cold, without emotion, and the little girl instantly feels intimidated by the gaze. Her mind tells her to pull away, but her body does not respond. Her eyes are transfixed on that emerald shine, which reflected something... an emotion... Hate. Sunset continues to look at the youngest of the Apples and notes how the little girl begins to tremble with held-back tears in her eyes. Both remain in a sepulchral silence for some time, until the older one speaks. "Congratulations, brat. You win." Her voice is as cold as her eyes, and after her short speech, she walks away from the school and away from her old life. The little Apple stays in place, sitting on the ground. Her face reflects her fear as her eyes release small tears. What did she mean? Why did she look at her that way? Could it be that, perhaps... *S*A*S* The moon shines upon the city, and although the city is still awake, the activity slowly starts dying down until, save for a few clubs here and there, the city is quiet. In a remote area, a land long abandoned and devoid of any other presence, the equine girl drops an old backpack on the pavement and takes a box of matches out of her pocket. An old, metal barrel sits nearby, its contents of old replaced with dry branches and old newspapers. Sunset lights a match and drops it into the barrel, and soon, a small bonfire lights up the darkness, though its heat does nothing to warm Sunset. She opens her backpack and removes all the photographs of her and her friends. She looks at them for a moment one last time, and then, one by one, she throws them into the fire. In addition to the photos, she also burns some CDs containing the Rainbooms’ songs, songs that were once a symbol of friendship but are now just empty rhymes. Finally, from the backpack, she takes out one last object: not a photo, not a CD, but a book... The book that Celestia had given her so long ago, endowed with a magic that allowed each to get in contact with the other in any circumstance, a kind of magical version of cell phones, though not so sophisticated in technology. Back then, Celestia had tried to teach her something, something she could not... no, shedid notwant to understand. The same lesson was shown to her by Twilight years later, and even after that, it took her a little time to fully understand it. And now, here she was. Alone again, without friends, without a figure to guide her. Once again, the world had turned its back on her, and once again, it must be her, with her own strength, who stands up. Twilight and Celestia had been wrong. She could not use the magic of friendship. She could not have friends. Her destiny is, always was, and always will be to be alone. The book suddenly begins to shine. Sunset knows what it means, and after a moment of hesitation, she opens it to the last written page, and there they are: words that she did not write. -"Dear Sunset, I'm sorry I was slow to respond. How's everything going? Have things been fixed yet?"- She stares at the message for a moment, the thought of not answering passing through her mind, but in the end, she takes a pen from her jacket and begins to write. -"No, Twilight, everything is the same. The school still hates me, and so do my friends. Simply no one wants to believe me."- She stands motionless, looking at the page and waiting for words to be written on their own. -"Oh, no. This isn’t right, Sunset. I'm sorry I'm not there, but I promise I’ll be there soon and I'll help you solve it. Just wait a little longer, alright?"- A laugh almost escapes her after reading that. -"Don't bother, Twilight. I've decided to forget about it. There’s no point in continuing with this."- -"Forget it? What do you mean? You can't forget something like this. They’re your friends, Sunset."- -"Not anymore. They hate me.Everyoneat school hates me. I'm alone, and there's nothing I can do to change it."- -"Don't say that! I know the situation looks bad, but everything will be fixed, I'm sure."- -"Twilight, it's over. I can't resist it anymore, and I don't want to keep going with this. It hurts so much."- -"Sunset, wait! It's just a mistake! We can fix it!"- Given how the shape of the letters changed in that last message, Sunset guesses that it was written with haste and fear. -"Maybe, but I don't care anymore. I just want it to end, and I'll do it. I'll end it."- -"Sunset, don’t do anything stupid! Wait for me! I'm coming over right now!"- -"Goodbye, Twilight."- As soon as she writes that last sentence, she closes the book. It shines again, indicating a message from the princess, but she ignores it. She looks at the book for a few seconds, and finally, she throws it into the fire. The flames begin to consume it, and before long, the book is reduced to ashes. Sunset watches the fire for a few moments, until she finally turns around and leaves, letting the fire carry away her past. The past is not today. Now, there is only tomorrow...