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// Love and pain become the same
// Story: Hell is for children
// by dragenfire68
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Sunset awoke, feeling more rested than she remembered being in a very long time. Opening her eyes, her attention turned towards the smell of food that filled the room, the delicious scent of waffles, muffins, and toast, in response to which, her stomach grumbled. Sunset didn't move, however, for as she regained full motor control in her limbs, all the events of last night came crashing back down on her and she realized that she wasn't in her bed. Quickly feeling for her shirt, calmed down somewhat, as she felt the hem at her waist.
“Okay so I‘m physically unhurt, but how?” Sunset thought as she stayed in the same position, hoping that whoever was home would assume she was still asleep. It didn't work however as Tirek came around the corner, carrying two plates filled with a couple of pieces of toast, stacks of waffles, and two muffins each. Of course, he wasn't about to tell her, that he knew, that she was awake, he was gonna wait until she was calm enough, not to freak out.
The silence drew on, for what seemed like hours, but was actually only 10 minutes, until Sunset risked a peek at her savior, only for her eyes to meet his and she knew the jig was up. She sat up and drew her legs into her chest, as Tirek looked down at his food and began to eat. Looking down, Sunset saw a plate in front of her. Carefully she reached for the fork, ready to bolt if the man opposite to her tried to stop her. The man didn’t react though, so she took the plate into her hands and carefully began to eat. For a while, they sat in companionable silence, until Sunset started to look around, taking in the surroundings. To her right was a T.V., behind her was a door to a hallway, with one door on the left and one on the right, then to her right was the kitchen, and finally, there was the exit.
"There is someone, who cares for you." Tirek said, wanting to help ease the girl's trepidation, because since she finished eating, she had been watching him with a mix of fear and curiosity, her eyes burning with questions, but her body saying that she was far from ready, too talk to him.
"Yeah right, I've been abandoned by both my teachers and my friends, so the only reason you have me here, is for unsavory reasons!!" Sunset thought bitterly, getting ready to bolt, should he come within arms reach. Instead of coming closer, however, he stood up and went over to a shabby desk in the corner, were picked up a journal, one with Sunset's cutie mark on it.
"Here Miss Shimmer, I’m pretty sure, that you’re not going to take the word of someone you don’t know, but I believe that reading this, will help ease some of your pain." Tirek said as he held out the book to her, which she took gingerly.
Sunset looked down at the cover, sure that there was nothing and that he wanted her to look away, so he could take her by surprise. Against all her instincts, she looked away from Tirek and opened the book to Twilight's last message to Tirek, before flipping back through the pages, reading each of Twilight's desperate pleas. Soon she closed the book and hugged it to her chest, like it was the most precious item to ever exist, because for her though it was. The book represented the last glimmer of hope, that she had already given up on, a beacon that she knew would help guide her.
"T-thank you, I-I s-should have waited." Sunset stuttered, as the dam broke and she began to cry, out of happiness that Twilight didn't forsake her and sorrow, that she had attempted to go to a place, where none could follow.
Tirek said nothing, as he watched the girl silently letting out all her pain and frustration. Soon though, the girl stopped, still clutching the book to her chest, rocking back and forth.
"I took the liberty of saving your stuff, after pulling you from the water." Tirek said, as he stood up and took his and her plate to the kitchen, leaving her alone.
"So she did care, She never gave up on me." Sunset thought, as she let her legs down and began sitting normally, tracing her finger across her mark. Soon her thoughts brought another question burning in her mind, "Who is this man and what possessed him to save me?"
Sunset didn't have long to think, before Tirek came back and sat down in front of her, his eyes meeting hers. Soon they were locked in a staring contest, one trying to persuade the other to break the ice, trying to pick apart the silence.
"So, Miss Shimmer, my name is Tirek," he said. As he said his name, Sunset’s eyes widened and she visibly flinched, drawing herself in again, but he continued, "I have no ill intent towards you, I want to help, but I do have one question. You visibly flinched when I mentioned my name, I take it in your world someone else has my name?"
Sunset looked down, as she recalled the legend behind his name, drawing a shaky breath as she spoke, "Yes, in my world there is a creature who has your name. When he showed up, he and his brother plotted to steal all the magic in my world, but his brother grew to appreciate my people, and so he went to his brother to try and talk to him. When he choose to ignore him, his brother went back to his own lands, while your counterpart was locked in Tartarus, but he escaped."
When Sunset stopped to look at him, Tirek closed the mouth that had fallen open during her explanation and decided to ask what the fate of his counterpart was, "What happened to him after he escaped?"
"Princess Twilight used powerful magic, to strip him of his stolen magic, and return him to Tartarus."
Tirek chewed on these words, as he made a mental note, not to trigger this Princess Twilight. He didn't want her to believe, that he was anything like his evil counterpart.
"So, what are you gonna do with me?" Sunset asked, since he hadn't made any moves with ill intent.
"Hmm? Oh well, I'm planning on taking care of you, until this whole mess is sorted out since you got nowhere else to go and I can’t in good conscious let you wander the streets alone, but I won’t force you to stay here."
Sunset sat and thought his words over. One part of her mind saying that she didn't need this stranger's help and that she could do this on her own, but the more rational side simply brought up the events of the bridge, silencing the other voice, as she made her decision.
"I'll stay here until this Anon-A-Mess has been sorted out, but what about my schooling?" Sunset asked
"Well, that’s up to you, since we need to check in with Celestia once school is out. Speaking of which," Tirek checked the time, it said only 9:30 A.M., "looks like we still got time to burn here, so let’s play a game." Tirek said much to Sunset’s bemusement
"A-game. Don't you have work to be getting to?"
"Cashed in my vacation days. Luckily for my special condition, they give me to roll over on my vacation days."
"Special condition?"
"Well, I’ll tell you that, depending on the game."
Sunset raised an eyebrow, as Tirek brought over a chessboard, and began to set it up watching, as she was given the white pieces and he took the black ones.
"I'll play."
"Good, now want a normal game or a special one?"
"What’s the special one?"
"It’s like normal chess, but every time we lose a piece, we tell the other a little about ourselves, doesn't have to be big, doesn't even have to be that important."
Sunset thought about that, the voices debating on whether or not it was worth playing. Ultimately, she decided to play normally for now.
"Just normal for now, I'll play the other version later today."
"That’s fine."
So they sat and played chess until about 1:55 P.M. Sunset found that Tirek was no pushover when it came to chess, but she was a quick study and found how to counter a few, but not all of his strategies. Soon though, Tirek checked the clock and, as if he knew that they had the stuff to do, ended the game in one move.
"Wow, you're good at this."
"You learn when you got nothin’ else to do"
Sunset simply gave him small smile, but that quickly vanished, when she saw what he pulled out of his desk. It was the noose, she had tried hanging herself with. Not only that, but she saw the scab on his hand, and judged that it was probably from what he used to cut the rope with.
"I'm bringing this to Celestia so that she can better understand your situation. I know it'll be hard for you, but you gotta stay strong, both for yourself and your friend. But for now, go take a shower, your school is out at 2:30"
Sunset nodded, as she went to the bathroom across from his room and took a very brief shower. She vowed to take a longer one later, but for now, she had to get ready, so ready in fact that she went up to Tirek and asked gently if they could leave now.
"Are you sure? A lot of your classmates are going to be there, are you sure you can handle them?" Tirek asked her gently
"Yes!" Sunset answered with confidence
Tirek gave her a look of pride, as he picked up his keys and gestured her towards his door and into his car. As they headed towards CHS, Sunset felt the rising tension, at the prospect of facing her classmates. She knew that she had signed up for this when she asked to leave early, but she couldn't help but feel nervous. Soon enough though they arrived at CHS, the time reading about 2:25.
"Here we are, are you sure you don’t want to wait, till they all leave?"
"Yes, let’s go."
They left off the car, just as the bell rang for the students to get out of their classes. Sunset made her way up to the door, with Tirek following close behind. She pushed the door open and no sooner had she done that, that the entire student body started to glare at her. Right until Tirek stepped into the school, cutting an intimidating figure, with his 7 and a half foot presence and a scowl that could curdle milk, which immediately stopped the students in their tracks, causing new arrivals to bump into each other and voice their complaints, before seeing the massive man standing behind Sunset.
"L-lets go" Sunset muttered gesturing for them to move. Tirek nodded and as he and Sunset made their way forwards, students moved quickly out of Tirek's way, not daring to try to touch Sunset.
No sooner had they made it into the hallway, that a cocky voice echoed down it, "HA! I see the vile Anon-a-miss has returned, no doubt to see what her wretched little blog has done to the students here."
Those that had seen Tireks face before, only backed away into the nearest classroom, as a look of absolute fury took his features, his eyes turning towards a blue-skinned girl with silver hair, smiling valiantly to herself, before she looked up from Sunset, and straight into the eyes of Tirek. Her blue skin turned ashen grey, as the gravity of what she did sink in, but luckily for her, she wasn't close to the principal’s office and the route behind her was clear, to which she took a very immediate exit.
"You're scary when you do that, you know." Sunset muttered to him, with a smile on her lips.
"Well, I can’t stand someone being singled out, for something they didn't do."
Sunset smiled at that, as they continued moving. They were halfway to the principal’s office when three girls stepped out of it, one was a pink-haired young lady, the other was prim and proper with hair that most women could die for, the last one was a girl with Rainbow hair.
"Rainbow, do you think Sunset is alright? Principal Celestia seemed like she was really worried." Fluttershy said.
"Who cares, that backstabbing little......." Rainbow trailed off, as she was face to face with Sunset Shimmer, but that wasn't what shut her up. It was the man standing behind her, his eyes locked on her with fire behind them, of course, Fluttershy look over too and seeped as she saw Tirek, but his eyes softened when he looked at Fluttershy.
"H-hello Father Tirek, what brings you to school today?" Fluttershy inquired, before noticing the noose he had in his right hand.
"Well Fluttershy, if you and your friends would care to join us, I'd be happy to fill you in, since I assume that you had no part in this." he said as he held forward the noose.
Fluttershy simply looked between Sunset and the noose, noticing how Sunset rubbed her collarbone and came to the bone-chilling conclusion.
“Yes, I'll join, same goes for Rarity and Rainbow." she replied.
Rainbow and Rarity were about to voice their complaints, when Fluttershy turned towards them with both rage and sadness in her eyes and put a finger to her lips, effectively cowing them into silence. They couldn't understand why, until they were all filed into Celestia's office and Tirek put the noose on Celestia's desk. Celestia for her part said nothing, as the girls were filed in and sat down, she just looked down at the noose and put her face in her hands, before she did something, that surprised everyone but Tirek.
"I’m so, so sorry Sunset, I didn't know you were hurting so bad, I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you, I'm sorry I failed you!" Celestia cried as she held Sunset tightly, afraid that the minute she let go, Sunset would fade away and be nothing more than a ghost. Sunset quickly got over her shock and hugged the principal back, relieved that someone here would miss her.
"I-is that what I think it is," Rarity asked, knowing the answer, but asking anyway, hoping, that what she knew deep down, wasn't true.
"Yes girls, that is Sunset Shimmer's noose." Celestia said as she withdrew from Sunset, wiping her eyes before going to a tissue box.
The gravity of the situation was finally too much for the three girls, each one finding their own way of weeping. Rarity simply sat in her chair, eyes clenched shut so hard that it looks like she was reliving a traumatic experience, but for her, it was a traumatic experience; Rainbow stood and then went and sat in the corner of the room, her knees drawn in and her head down; Fluttershy being the most sensitive was sobbing so hard, tears were dripping down on her lap. Sunset for her part was surprised at these reactions.
"Now, you girls understand the gravity of this situation," Celestia said, looking around the room, each girl giving their own weak nod through their tears, but Celestia continued, "now that you know for a fact, that Sunset Shimmer isn’t Anon-a-miss, we have a new mission: We must clear her name."
This got each girl’s attention, they looked up at Celestia, whose face showed hardened determination.
"H-how a-are we gonna do that?" Rarity hiccuped, as she felt the emotional high calm down. She looked between them, Fluttershy's eyes red and puffy, Rainbow had her head raised but her back was still turned, none of them had any idea what to do, but Celestia had more to say.
"Luna said she had an idea of who it is, she also mentioned that she was following a lead this morning."
Rarity and Fluttershy gasped, each looking like a disaster, but hope still radiated from them, but then something surprising happened. Rainbow Dash came over and hugged Sunset from behind, before starting to mumble quiet enough for the only Sunset to hear it
"I’m sorry, I’m worthless, I’m sorry I wasn't there for you, I deserve your fate, I’m not worth having as a friend, it should have been me, I’m sorry I hit you, you can hate me forever, I deserve to die in your place, it my fault you almost jumped, I don’t deserve your forgiveness, I deserve your hate......." she eventually got so quiet that Sunset couldn't hear her, but what she said was enough for her to stand up and hug Rainbow back.
"You don’t deserve to die. I know I should hate you, but your reaction now makes it too hard. You’re worth having around, you hurt me, yes, but your not a bad person, just misguided, same as I was and I've made up for it. So I'm extending the same honor, you gave to me, to you, so please stop saying that you’re worthless. It wasn't your proudest moment, but everyone makes mistakes, instead of dwelling on them, make sure to not make them again." Sunset half-shouted, as Rarity and Fluttershy gave an audible D'aww, causing Sunset and Rainbow to break apart, each slightly blushing
"Never speak of this again, like ever." Rainbow said.
Sunset turned and gave Fluttershy and Rarity both long hugs, each getting their own version of Rainbow Dash's speech. They both promised with all their heart that this was never going to ever happen again, that they'll learn to be better and soon they all joined in a hug. However, the moment was quickly ruined, when Luna came bursting through the door, waving a folder.
"TIA, I HAVE FOUND THE CULPRIT!!!"