Out of the crater, into the light

by Xenont


Sunset's cold, part 1(At the mall) - Chapter 3

Sunset was in the crater again. She stumbled and crawled to the top, only to be greeted by a group of angry teenagers. "You would never rule in Equestria, any power you had in this world is gone.....And now, you would be too....." Sunset heard Twilight shout at her in utter disgust. She joined hands with her friends yet again and they, with the help of the magic of Friendship, blasted Sunset with a heavy blast of rainbow beams. Sunset felt the burn of the light as it wrapped around her, burning her skin. She saw the look of hatred in Twilight's eyes as the beam shot through her.

"Ahhh!!" Sunset shot up from her bed, drenched in cold sweat. Whew! It's just a dream....But it felt so real! Sunset shook her sore body and stretched, coughing a few times, noticing her throat was very dry. Sunset stood up as she walked to the kitchen. Drinking a huge gulp of water, she then realised that her head was hurting as well.What is going on? She felt her forehead and began to realise that it felt warmer than usual. Oh no.... Sunset went through her drawers for medicine but found none. Eh....I can probably get better by drinking lots of water. Sunset thought, thinking it was just a light fever that she had gotten due to the wind and cold water she was exposed to yesterday.

Sunset walked over to the bathroom as she did her routine of bathing and changing. She then noticed a few small rips in her leather jacket and decided that she could looked for a suitable replacement in the mall.


Sunset grabbed her old bag and put her wallet, phone and bottle inside as she make her way out of the house. She took her keys which were hanging from a hook above the shelf and swung is around as she sat down on her motorcycle.

Sunset hopped on her motorcycle as she stepped on the accelerator, leaving only dust behind. It was barely 11am when Sunset reached the mall. She jumped off the motorcycle and walked towards the mall from the carpark. As she entered the mall doors, a rush of cold wind made Sunset shiver uncontrollably as she rubbed the hands together, trying to stay warm. Why is it so cold today? The mall is not usually this cold.... Sunset rubbed her nose on the back of her hand and sniffed as she continued her way further into the mall.

Sunset looked at her list of stuff to buy. Some food, leather jacket and.....get a job.... Sunset sighed as she made her way down to the supermarket, still shivering. She walked past many shoppers as she made her way through the crowd, not noticing that, not far away, Sunset's friends were gathered there for a day of fun in the mall.


"Hey girls! So glad you all could make it!" Rarity said. "I have so much planned for us!" She grabbed her friend's hands as she pulled them to a small cloth-selling shop.

"What are ya plannin to do ta us today Rarity?" Applejack said she she scanned the shop's walls. "You wanna make new clothes for us ri?" She guessed, unamused.

"Yes...well...we haven't been friends for a long time....I'll need new measurements!" Rarity said.

The girls knew she was right. After all, they had barley even spoken face-to-face after Sunset tore them apart. "So...what are we going to do about Sunset?" rainbow asked. "I mean, there must have been something wrong if she had just ran away like that." She added.

"Yeah....I hope she's okay...." Fluttershy whispered, looking down. "And I have the perfect party planned for her!" Pinkie said, showing the girls her messy planner. "It's gonna be perfect!"

"And I do believe her clothing has sustain a lot of tearing due to the.....beam." Rarity pointed out. "I would love to help her make a new one!" She took out her notebook and pencil as she started to measure her friends' waist, shoulder and height. "Okay! I'm done!" Rarity exclaimed as she kept all the items into her purse, leaving her friends wondering how they even could fit inside such a small space.

"Okay! Now can we eat?" Rainbow complained. "We have been in here for an hour! I'm starving!" Applejack elbowed her. "Be patient!" She scolded."We will be eatin soon, you'll just have ta wait."

"Let's go girls!" Rarity said, joining them with bags of fabric that she had purchased. "Sorry for taking so long, we can go and eat now!"


Sunset walked out of the supermarked carrying a bag of cereal, fruits and water (As she did not have a kettle). Well, now all I need is a new jacket.... Sunset sighed as she walked to a nearby bench to sort out her items. She removed her wallet and looked inside, counting her money.Ten....Five....Twenty.... Sunset realised that she had a little over fifty dollars. I hope that's enough.... She placed everything into her bag. Upon checking the time, Sunset realised that it was already noon. Guess I'll have lunch here too....

As she stood up, a wave of nausea hit her as she tried to keep her balance. Sitting down again, she rubbed the head and groaned. Why do I feel so tired? Sunset coughed a few more times before she stood up again, this time, not falling over. She grabbed her plastic bag as she walked to the escalator. "Ah...choo!" Sunset sneezed as she stood on the escalator. She rubbed her nose as she felt another sneeze coming. "Ah...choo! Ah....AH...CHOO!!" Sunset sniffed a few times before zipping up her broken jacket in an attempt to stop her shivering.

Sunset stumbled off the escalator, still rubbing her nose. Why is this happening to me? She wandered as she sneezed three more times into her sleeve. Sunset leaned against a pillar to make sure that she did not fall over as she decided what to do next. Should I eat here, or should I go home and eat some salad that I can make with the stuff I bought? She decided that she had better return home as she started to cough violently.


"What do you guys wanna eat?" Rainbow said the group walked around the mall. "Ah thought you were the hungry one, Rainbow. Ya mean u don't know what ya wanna eat?" Applejack mused as she looked towards her friend.

"No, I just wanted to make sure that you guys have the chance to chose, since I'm not really picky with food. But I know Rarity is. So you should ask her!" Rainbow replied, making Rarity turn red in embarrassment. "Eh heh....I'm good with anything..." Rarity said.

"Okay then! Let's go eat pizza!" Pinkie shouted, causing shoppers to look at them. "Erm...that's okay with all of you guys right?" She said, lowering her voice. "Uh huh." The girls nodded.

As they made there way to the pizza restaurant, talking and laughing as they walked towards their destination, they bumped into the last person that they had expected to see in the mall. Sunset Shimmer. "Hey, ain't that Sunset?" Applejack asked as she pointed to a figure not far away from them. "Yeah, sure looks like Sunset..." Fluttershy answered timidly. "Let's go talk to her, we can find out why she ran away like that yesterday!" Rainbow smiled. "Come on!"

The girls happily walked over to where Sunset was standing, glad to see that she was there. But the moment they saw how she looked, all their face changed from happy and smiling to ones of worry.


"Erm....Sunset?" Applejack was the first to approach her friend. "Gah!!" Sunset shouted, jumping back by a few inches. "Woah...you scared me there..." She said hoarsely after she steadied herself. "Are you okay darling?" Rarity asked, looking at her friend closely. "Yeah? Why?" Sunset cleared her throat before speaking. "Erm...Are you sure? Because,,,you don't look so good...." Pinkie said, frowning.

"What do you mean?" Sunset croaked. "I'm fine..." She rubbed her sore nose and looked up at her friends. "Erm....you don't sound fine nor do you look fine...." Rainbow said. "Look?" Sunset managed to say. "Yes, Sunset..." Rarity said as she took out a pocket mirror from her bag, letting Sunset look at her own reflection.

Rainbow was right. Sunset's eyes had bags under them and her cheeks were pink. But the worst part was Sunset's nose. She had rubbed it so hard that it had turned blood-red. Sunset sighed as she looked away. "Its nothing...just...allergies" Sunset made up an excuse. "Sunset. Ah think we all know that you ain't allergic to nothin." Applejack crossed her arms. Sunset felt her eyes fill with tears as she opened her mouth to speak. But instead of words coming out, Sunset launched into yet another round of loud coughing. Sensing that their friend was in discomfort, the girls led Sunset to a nearby bench to sit down.

Petting Sunset's back as her coughing died down, Fluttershy finally spoke, breaking the tension. "Sunset? Are you sure you are okay?" She asked. "You sure don't seem like your usual self..." Sunset refused to looked up at her friends. "You mean the horrible demon that roamed the school halls scaring students?" Sunset choked on her words as she started to sob uncontrollably, tears and snot flowing down her face.

"No...that's not what I meant..." Fluttershy gasped, her eyes filling with tears as well. She hugged Sunset, letting Sunset cry into her shoulder. Rainbow sat down next to Sunset. "Sh....It's okay Sunny...." The rest of the girls also helped to comfort Sunset as she continued to cry for what seemed like forever.

After some time, Sunset's cried stopped enough for her to speak. "I...." She began, before coughing violently, making her friends wince as the coughing wrecked Sunset's feeble body. "Sunset?" Rarity began, slowly. "What happened?" Sunet sighed. "Well...after you guys went to say goodbye to Twilight....I heard Two students that I have bullied before call me things like 'she demon' and 'monster'....."Sunset stopped to wipe her eyes, her friends looked pitifully at her. "Well, so I ran away from school....but I got lost and could not find my way, erm....home...." Sunset rubbed her nose.

"Darling...no wonder you are sick." Rarity said. "It was really cold yesterday, wasn't it?" Sunset looked at at her and nodded. "And...I don't really have hot water to bathe in as I am technically homeless....."

"WHAT?!?!" Sunset's friends shouted as they tried to process what Sunse had just said. "Really?" Rainbow asked. "You really have no place to stay?" She stared at Sunset with eyes as large as plates. "Yes...I mean, I do have somewhere to stay, but it's more of a abandoned factory than an actual place to call home, but it is nice there..." Sunset sniffed loudly.

"Darling....we had no idea....Tell you what, we are each going to let you stay at our houses until you recover and get back on your feet!" Rarity said, her friends behind her all agreed. "You guys really don't have to..." Sunset covered her mouth with her elbow as she sneezed. "Ah...ah...choo! Ah....choo! AH.....CHOO!" She sniffed just as Pinkie offered her a tissue. "You poor thing....I've never seen anyone as sick as you Sunny...." Sunset took the tissue and blew her nose loudly as she sneezed again into the tissue. "Thanks for the offer...but I can't. It's asked too much of you guys...especially after what I had done to you guys....."

"Look, Sunset, now many times do we have to tell you that we have already forgiven you?" Rainbow hugged her friend. "For the rest of the week and the next, you'll stay at my house, we'll have a slumber party. My parents are away on a business trip so my house is pretty much free for you to stay!" Rainbow said, before she added sternly,"And no denying, you are going to stay until you get better!" Sunset's eyes fogged up again as she hugged Rainbow. "Thank you! Thank you, all of you...."


As they six of them reached the car park, they all huddled around Sunset, trying to keep her warm. Sunset was deeply grateful as even though the sun was shining down on them, Sunset felt as though they were at the North-pole.

"Sunset, where's your ride?" rainbow asked as she scanned the lots. "There..." Sunset muttered as she pointed to her motorcycle. "Whoa, Sunny, who knew you rode that?" Pinkie said. "Uh...Flash and I found it at an old dumpster and we fixed it up for my use...."

"No prob!" Rainbow said. "We can leave in outside my house until recover enough to use it." Sunset nodded, knowing Rainbow was right. I'll probably fall right off the moment I get on....I can't even walk a few feet without the girls' help...

As Sunset climbed into Rainbow's car, she watched from the window as her friends slowly and carefully lifted her motorcycle and carried it towards Rainbow's car. I am so lucky to always have them by by side.... Sunset thought as she closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep.