//------------------------------//
// 21 - Solace 
// Story: A Third Chance to Find a Family 
// by kitkataddel 
//------------------------------//

"Did I ever tell you of my personal life before my time as Princess Celestia's student?" Sunset sat outside in the garden, casually leaning against a tree, while Twilight sat cross legged across from her. She had gotten back from Scootaloo's house a while ago, and had promptly laid down on the grass, basking in the sunlight.

"Don't think so. You haven't said too much about your time as her student either, excluding the part where you grew too arrogant and stuff."

"I want to now. After all that's happened, I just now know how close I got to going completely full circle." The equestrian momentarily gazed off into the distance, remembering her past life in another world, before continuing. "I never knew my parents. No clue who they were, or are, anything. I just know I was dumped on an orphanage's doorstep just as the sun was going down. No note, nothing. Just my parents going 'Hey, we had this foal, and we don't want it. You take it!' Even Celestia couldn't find anything, so chances are my parents are dead. Not that I ever knew them anyway. I honestly can't tell you how long I was at the orphanage for. Everthing I have and am about to tell you I've heard from other ponies, so forgive me if I'm vague.

"I was the most anti social filly you could ever meet in the orphanage. Never spoke to anyone what so ever, always looking for something else to do. Princess Celestia came round one day and, I quote 'saw the potential stored in that short little stubby horn.' Most unicorns would take that as an insult. However, coming from the ruler of the nation that also controls the freaking sun..."

"It made you giddy beyond belief." Twilight finished off.

"Understatement, but yeah, basically. She gave me some books on magic, and said she'll return a year later. I think I would've been twelve by then, pony relative of course. I think there's some minor time dialation of calender differences between the two worlds. Anyway, when she did come back, I was determined to make a huge impression, idol worship and all that. I had been preparing a spell all week, I was sure it would get me into her good books, as if it were. It was a simple fire spell, but one most unicorns learnt at around eighteen, five years more than what I was. Instead of creating a small ball of fire that I could float around and change shape, I got wings. The fire wings, the same ones that I get when I transform here. Celestia knew there was something special about them, so she took me in there and then. I was overjoyed, Celestia hadn't taken in anypony as her student in literal centuries. She saw so much promise within me, and I returned that by becoming as much like her as possible. Over time I realized that was both unhealthy and a really bad idea. Then... well, either you already know it, or it's a story for another day."

They sat in silence as Sunset finished off her story, enjoying the fresh air, as their brother came over, a worried look on his face. "Something's eating away at you, Sunset. What is it?"

Glancing up at Shining's stern face, Sunset knew he wouldn't let the matter drop, and let out a long sigh. "You might as well sit. This could take a while. It's just- You know what annoys me the most about this whole thing?"

"Hmm?"

"The fact that while any of this really should not have happened in the first place, I'm actually better off because of it. Now, don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change anything that happened. I have a full family, new friends, magic - magic! - and yes, well, I might have even more scars now, but that's beyond the point. However. There are so many things that could've, and should've, stopped this entire fiasco. Only, what, a dozen or so people actually stopped to think when the first accusation was made. I never denied that I wouldn't do something like that if I wanted to cause grief in the school, but I always had at the very least plausable deniability! Putting that profile picture up like that was just saying, 'Hey guys, want to bully the bully yet again? Well here's an excuse, have fun!' I mean, come on! At least Breeze had the extra brain cell not to do that! And speaking of Breeze, what possessed him to do that in the first place?! I know it's not a ridiculous 'I want my sister back, wah wah wah.' Which, by the way, was kinda dumb in the first place. There's this thing called talking to your sisters about it... Anyway, I'm getting off topic. Breeze has basically been disowned by Fluttershy, for a long, long multitude of reasons. First and foremost is harrassment, and not far behind is being a complete creep. Nothing criminal, Shiny, before you say it."

"Yeah, about that, I did actually do some digging into this guy. There's no solid evidence, but he's been reported many, many times."

"One of them's probably me. 'Master seductor', my two toned flank." Sunset snorted at the thought, before being interrupted by Shining's phone going off.

"Hello? Yeah, of course I know about it... Really? You did comfirm this, right? No, I'm not doub- No, no, it's- Right. Got it. Thanks." He hung up, with a look of disbelief on his face. Turning to his sisters, he gave a small smile. "Would you believe Gilda was being fully blackmailed?"

"Yes." Sunset answered instantly.

"Huh?"

"I've been thinking about it. Me and Gilda had a sort of unspoken agreement. 'Stay out of each others' way, and we're good.' Even after I got blasted, we both kept to that, though we never spoke to each other then. Plus neither account posted anything about her." Sunset looked up in thought, before continuing. "I don't know what she would've been blackmailed with though. She's already had a rough life, she's real low down, so low no one else can touch her with dirt."

"It wasn't blackmail, per se, it was more threatening. Believe it or not, but that gang of hers was actually threatening their own leader." Shining took on a more serious expression. "They were gonna burn all of her possessions, house, and all of that. If she still didn't do anything then, they probably would've attacked her."

"That's one hell of a plot twist. But it makes sense. All Gilda's ever wanted to do was survive, and she at the very least needs a home to do that. She's not getting off scot free though, right?"

"No way." The officer shook his head. "She's gonna be getting a few months in juvie, and we'll be keeping a much closer eye on her from now on. But compared to the rest of the gang, she's getting off fairly light. They've all got criminal records now, but when you compare two to six months in juvie to at least a year in prison, Gilda definitely comes off on top. Who knows, maybe she'll be able to reconcile with some people."

"Why'd she pretend to be so guilty for so long though? From what VP Luna told me-"

"Trust me, Sunset, the guys said the moment she was away from her gang, she spilled everything. Whatever they did to get her cooperation, it really worked. If she's lying about all of it, well, she's the best liar anyone at the station has ever seen. They're probably interrogating the rest of the gang now, we'll see how that works out tomorrow. Right now?" Shining stood up, starting to walk back to the house. "Let's go have some dinner."

As if on cue, their mother called out a window, "Dinner's ready!"

"Coming Mum!" 

Also now standing, Twilight turned to her sister, asking, "Why do you pronounce 'mom' like that?"

"The matron of the orphanage was from Trottingham, guess I picked up the acc- what?"

"Sorry, sorry, just- 'Trottingham'? Really?!"

"Heh, guess that does sound a bit stupid. Oh but get this. Name a horse pun."

"What?"

"You heard me."

And so, the rest of the day was spent talking about the puns that make up the Equestrian language.





It was the next day, and Sunset was feeling... good. Excellent, in fact. As she walked through the corridors of CHS, without her jacket for the first time in a while, she actually had to force herself to keep a skip out her step. Everyone stared at her, but for a different reason than before. They all wanted to apologise, beg for forgiveness on their knees, but either believed they wouldn't be forgiven, or didn't have to right to even speak to her. So, the girl happily strode to her first lesson.

It was quiet. Everyone had heard the revelation that Sunset was not Anon-a-miss, and how many of them were hypocrites. Which was a lot, to say the least. Not much was whispered, though one topic did stand out.

"Who really was it?"

To say the decision for Anon-a-miss to stay, well, anonymous was an unpopular one was an understatement. Everyone wanted to know. Absolutely everyone. But, they respected Sunset's wishes, if nothing else. It was the least they could do, she supposed. Some of the less violent students were actually quite content with the result. They knew the real culprits would be lynched if things got out of hand. Even so, for all the break ups that the account caused, every student seemed to get along fine, so long as they didn't feel Sunset's judging gaze upon them.

Another lesson came and went, and Sunset pulled Rainbow Dash aside as they exited the room.

"Dash, I need you to be stgraight with me here. Are you still gonna be hanging out with AJ and the rest of them?"

"Uh, I mean, if that's-" Dash stuttered under the pressure of the sudden question.

"Nevermind what I think. Just yes or no?"

"i- I wanted to but-"

"Good."

"Huh?" The prismatic girl stated her confusion at the opinion.

"Look Dash. If it's just going to be those three, they're gonna be breaking up within days. I'm not going to let this whole thing ruin their relationship." Dash opened her mouth to respond, but stopped when she saw Sunset's steely gaze. "I'm not up to talking with them again yet. If that's me being a coward, or me being fully justified, or perhaps both, it doesn't really matter."

The ex-unicorn sighed, frustrated. "I want you to do this as a favour. Enough relationships have been torn apart here, no matter who caused it in the first place. Please, talk to Fluttershy about this too. I have no qualms with either of you talking to them. They're still your friends, but me? Right now? I just can't."

Rainbow gulped at the sheer emotion, or perhaps lack thereof, in Sunset's tone. This was a side of her she hadn't seen yet. It wasn't the meek girl who was trying to make up for her past, it was the unstoppable determination of the girl who had ruled the school for years. And yet, there was no malice in her voice, face, nothing. It was something she was doing out of kindness, and she was going to see it succeed. Nodding, Dash swallowed any arguments and responded.

"I get it, you just can't trust them right now. Sure, that's fine, I didn't intend on abandoning them on this anyway. But can you answer a question for me?"

Sunset beckoned for ther other girl to follow her to a less busy area. Wandering to a corner of the school, they stopped, at the amber skinned girl waited expectantly. "Why'd you forgive Scoots?"

"To quote you: huh?"

"I mean, she helped start this whole mess in the first place. You could've left her to rot with the rest of her friends, she's only feeling guilty because she found you. Anyone could've."

"If I'm honest, I don't expect you to fully understand. For one, she actively went and deleted the account herself, then looked for the rest of us. Same reason why I forgave you and Fluttershy, you actually thought about and gathered the courage to go out and try and face me. But you can't understand what it means to owe someone your life. Sure, she started the thing that made me try and commit, but she then managed to haul me to hospital. I still don't understand how she managed to drag a girl almost double her size to hospital."

"She's far stronger than she looks. So what your saying is that if someone goes and break your nose, but then sets it minutes later, you're always going to be thankful to them in the end?"

"To more significant end result, but yeah. You'll always focus on the final result instead of the initial one, because that's the one you're stuck with." The bell sounded, signaling the end of break. "Welp, we'd better get going. What even is it?"

"P.E."

"Horsefeathers."

Sunset had not been looking forward to P.E. She had agreed to take it to build up her physical strength, something she had greatly neglected in recent months. But she knew what she'd have to do now. She'd been advised to take her bandages off while exercising as to not agitate her scars anymore than they already were. She had previously also avoided the class at all costs - she really didn't like showing the scars on her back, but she'd have to change clothes now, and therefore reveal her back. As far as she was concerned, only the hospital and her family knew about them.

'No use complaining now. Let's get it over with.'





Fleetfoot entered the changing rooms, eager to get the lesson started, even if the mood in general was subdued. The vast majority of the football team had stayed neutral on the the recent debacle, with only Rainbow Dash (on Sunset's side) and Lightning Dust (against Sunset) having different opinions. Of course, now it was all over, but that didn't mean there was a bit of tension between everyone. Hopefully everyone could use this time to calm down. Fleetfoot looked over who was in the room: most of the football team was already here, and a few other students, such as Derpy and Tennis Match. Other girls started to enter behind her, Rainbow Dash and then-

The entire changing room went quiet as an amber skinned girl with red and yellow hair entered. Noticing this, Sunset rolled her eyes, before making her way to a secluded corner. Conversation slowly started back up, mostly between the football team. Several gasps were heard, and silence reigned once more as everyone turned to see what was wrong.

Sunset stood, facing the wall, topless. On her back were two reddened scar running down her shoulder blades. Then, near the bottom of her spinal cord was a smaller, circular scar, seemingly older than the others. She threw on her P.E. uniform, ignoring the sudden silence behind her. Sighing, she started to shed her bandages - she would rather not have them soaked with sweat anyway.

Several students' breath hitched, as the remains of her suicide attempt were on full display. Sunset had, by her own admission, gone over board on her arms. Still, there's no kill like overkill, or so she told herself at the time. What she had done, was stab the knife in, and then drag it through her flesh. It's how her major nerves were cut. They criss crossed all over her lower arms, wrists and even her palms. There was no true reason to cut her hands, but she did it anyway, perhaps for the pain, perhaps just to make sure. As a result of all of that, anyone could see it was excessive.

Sunset didn't really care what they thought - it was more how soon absolutely everyone else knew about her additional scars. She didn't really mind people knowing, it was more how the entire school would now talk behind her back, and she could do nothing about it. If nothing else, it was just frustrating.





An hour later, and Sunset had found out she was as strong as ever, but her stamina had definitely gotten worse. It was something she would have to work on in the future, if she wanted to keep in shape. Mind you, the reason she was so out of shape was because she had been missing out on many meals, and was border line malnourished as a result.

The next lesson passed uneventfully, but Sunset's mind was elsewhere. It was nearing the end of the day, and she hadn't even seen Zephyr yet, let alone an announcement involving his account. She fidgeted nervously as she waited for lunchtime to come around, hoping to talk to some friends so she could put her mind at ease. The bell sounded, causing the girl to rush out of the class and straight to the hall. What she wanted to do was curl up into a ball and cry herself to sleep.

So many things could go wrong. Someone could get hurt. Everything could go out of control. What if-

"Hey Sunset!" Bon Bon's voice pulled her out of her worrying thoughts. She was sitting at a nearby table with Lyra and Twilight, the rest presumably still on their way. Nodding a greeting, Sunset have a questioning look, gesturing towards the angry looking Lyra. "Sunset, could you please ask Lyra what is wrong with that?"

Bon Bon waved an arm to her right, were several people were sitting. "Uhh, sure. Lyra, what's up?"

"You're not angry?" The mint girl's face morphed into confusion, but the fire in her eyes remained.

"You're gonna have to be more specific there, Lyra. What did you think I'm angry about?"

"That!" Lyra flailed a hand in the same direction as Bon Bon, causing Sunset to frown.

"That was as helpful as you throwing a fish to your right. Actually explain with words, please."

"You're seriously okay with Dash hanging out with the rest of them?!"

Sunset turned her head, scanning for the rainbow hair, and sure enough, it was surrounded by purple curls, a stetson and straight pink-grey hair. Looking back to Lyra, she simply shrugged. "I asked her to."

"Why?!"

"It's depressing to see them like that. They're gonna start fighting soon if someone doesn't help, and then I'd feel even more guilt over it, even if it isn't my fault." Seeing that Lyra didn't fully understand yet, she sighed, before elaborting. "I'm not ready to converse with them yet. But, if someone will do it for me, then I'm definitely not going to stop them. Plus, even if I did, would that remind you of anyone that was around, say, a year ago?"

Bon Bon started to catch on to what she was implying, and answered, "You?"

"Me. I'm not going back to that, but I'm also not letting people walk all over me."

With that, the topic turned to more normal subjects, and before long, lunch was at an end. Standing up, they made their way to drama, picking up a few of their friends on the way. Sunset was feeling much more at ease after that, and was sure the next lesson would further that. 

She didn't notice the pair of dark purple eyes looking at her from a nearby stairwell. Nor the frightened pair of the same colour below them.