"Secret-stealer!"
"Not that person!"
"We don't want you here!"
"Don't need you!"
'Need you.' Sunset Shimmer had dreams of hearing those words from her throughout the year. Now she just had those dreams shattered by one word. That one word that escaped those lips.
"Don't." Her voice could barely croak it, but she needed to have it heard by anyone else. Not that it truly helped her pain, as the combining blizzard and previous beatings took her toll on her physically. After she had given up on getting her friends with her words, she had ran out, rumours reaching her years even as she left the school in a blind panic.
The weather had only worsened on her journey away. Here, in this foreign universe, the winds weren't formed by magical winged horses, nor was the snow that would've been made in a manufactory. In this universe, it was simply mother nature being herself. Sunset had previously thought of her as being this world's Discord - cruel, ruthless, and most of all, unpredictable, despite what she had been told otherwise by her otherworldly 'friend'. She still had yet to make her mind up about her. Maybe she was with them, maybe not, maybe she was blissfully unaware of this plight that was unfolding just a universe away. Regardless, she had left her contact back in her locker. But no way in all of her right mind would she go back there. Mind you, she supposed some would want to 'see' Sunset Shimmer at some point in the soon future. She couldn't run forever. So, she would hide. Hiding would work, since there are no living beings who were fully aware of where Sunset lived. Well, maybe some rats at the very least.
Snow continued to fall, strangling Sunset and her nerves with the stinging cold, stabbing at her brain. She somehow took comfort in this pain, allowing her hood to slip, giving her hair room to flow freely in the white specks falling around her. Though now her brain had space to think, she started to consider what she now could do. She supposed she could last a few more nights, but either way, whe would have to do something eventually. Turning her thoughts back to the current scenario, Sunset started to pass by the mall, grabbing the bits she stashes there for emergencies. They were a nice reminder of home, with a blazing sun on one side, and her old ruler on the other. She had a feeling she needed the pure gold disks for somthing someday, but she never thought it would be like this. Depositing them into a worn pouch, she continued on her way, slightly picking up her pace now she had something that represented a bit of hope.
Even so, she had to think about the past. How could they do that to her?
"Don't worry Sunset, you're our friend!"
"We'll never leave you behind!"
"We talk to you because we care Sunset. Not just because we owe it to the Princess. You're not just a charity case."
"Just" - she couldn't help but think that that particular word was spoken with false intent. If she wasn't simply a charity case, what else? Sunset thought they cared. All of them. Had she really left herself to be that gullible? Was she really becoming that stup- 'No. It isn't fair to talk about her like that. She was just guilt-tripped into it. Wasn't she?' Now, there was a multitude of questions flying through Sunset's frozen brain, but on top of them all, there was something imparticular - "Don't need you." - on repeat in the folds of her thoughts. She said it. She said it. No one else. Her.
Only her...
Eventually putting her worries behind her, Sunset slowly returned home, or at least the only place she could compare to it. It was next to the old libary, near a bus stop, very useful given her position. And there was her shelter. It had grown fairly impressively now that she could focus her efforts on it. A thick carpet she had stolen from a nearby stall, made the not-exactly-solid floor, and several layers of rough wooden planks were bound together by lashes of rope fed into the splintered jaws. A large sheet of folded metal perched on top of it all, it would be enough to set her back on her path to sanity, at least until the day had been ended.
At least that is what she had led herself to believe. Now the shelter groaned and creaked, as they rubbed against each other, threating its own structure. Gradually, the structure then come to collapse, burying Sunset's possessions as it fell in on itself. She was sure she would've scrambled forwards, screaming "NO!", but if she was honest with herself, she was considerably too tired to do anything in response. Instead, Sunset slumped to the wall, sliding down it while taking brief delight in the respite she had gifted herself with. Grumbling incoherent gibberish, she wrapped herself in her jacket, but as the howling snow storm intensified, she found it now good. That was it for Sunset. She knew she would not be able to stay here much longer.
With little hesitation, she pulled out a short, slightly blunt knife from her boot, and started to slide it back and forth across the back of her hand, almost sawing at it as she turned her appendage over. It was strange - she was originally horrified by this limb, but has time went on, it had become her saviour. Now time for something different, as was needed.
Almost instinctually she dug down and hard at her wrist, sliding the blade across it. Sunset Shimmer then did the same for the parrallel limb on her other side. That was it. Quick, clean, sharp and simple. The red edge slid back into her high boot, and as she comforted herself that this is what her options were truly limited to, she allowed her head to drift into the snow, fading to a mix of white and black. One started to dominate the other, and then one of her senses shot open and a voice muttering in anger that she couldn't quite place. But she knew that didn't matter anymore. Not now...
It was over...
"SUNSET?!"