Sunset tried to control her trembling, knowing that any sudden movement would just make Gilda attack her.
Gilda was a juvenile delinquent from a broken family who was adopted by an air force sergeant, and was given actual combat training by military professionals. This made her perhaps the toughest girl in her grade, if not the entire school. Sunset had seen that play out when Gilda pounded some perverted jerk into paste.
Her eyes were a scary yellow that seemed to pierce the soul. Her hair, white with purple highlights, was shaved into a boyish figure. She was statuesque, being six inches taller then Sunset (not counting hair), with a well-muscled body, light-grey skin, and massive breasts. Her outfit of choice was a white wife-beater, which showed off her abs and muscled arms. She wore brown cargo pants on her legs, and black military boots on her feet.
All this made Gilda one of the few people Sunset ever feared, and never tried to hurt, at least directly. The fear only grew as the military girl effectively trapped her.
"I don't know if you remember this," Gilda said, strained smile on her face, "but last year, I had to turn in a presentation that was 30 percent of my science grade. On the day of my presentation, my laptop went missing. Professor Turner told me that losing my laptop was my own responsibility. So I got a zero and academic probation." Sunset felt guilt and fear boil in her stomach. "And what do you think happens to students who get academic probation?" Sunset didn't respond, staring dumbly at her own reflection. "Summer school. Instead of spending the summer with dad's military buddies, I was stuck in this dump, doing science homework."
"And a few months ago, I got an E-mail from that nerd Micro Chips. It was full of... perverted words." Sunset began shaking again. "He said he didn't send it, but I ended up belting him in the face anyways to teach him a lesson." Sunset felt another pang of guilt flow through her. "Then...after you left the school, I learned more about you and what they were saying...help things add up," Gilda continued, her smile becoming more and more predatory. "So I went to Snips and Snails, and with some help, I got them to spill the beans." Sunset's jaw dropped in horror. "Yeah Sunny, we know about every little one of your little...schemes. Like having your two idiots break into my locker and steal my laptop, all because I called you a 'teacher's pet'. And stealing Micro Chips' logins just to make him look like pervert because he wouldn't give you his tech." Gilda took a deep breath, but to Sunset, she looked like a dragon about to breath fire. Gilda's grip on her shoulder was getting painfully tighter.
"So I went to Chips, apologized to him, and he helped me arrange this little...meeting between us." Sunset felt a chill run down her spine. The students were working together to get back at her.
"Now, you've been awfully quiet. Do you have anything you'd like to say?" Gilda asked, her mouth so close to Sunset's ear, Sunset could feel her warm breath.
"Gilda look," Sunset said in a shaky voice. "I know I hurt you but p-p-please let me make it up to-" Sunset was cut off when Gilda began laughing unsympathetically.
"You know, Sunny," Gilda said when she stopped laughing, "when you actually showed your face here, I believed, for a moment, you might actually have some stones." Gilda's fake smile faded, turning into an unimpressed frown. "But this little...display showed me that without the teachers protecting you, and demon powers, and people to blackmail, you're just a cowardly little pussy aren't you?" Gilda finished, her voice becoming deathly quiet.
Sunset's fear was replaced by the feeling of shame as she took in Gilda's words and realized how spot on they were. As Celestia's student, she had used her status as an excuse to be a complete tool and avoid punishment, exploiting Celestia's see-no-evil attitude to its limit.
For the first two years at CHS, Sunset kissed up to the teachers and got a nearly-flawless academic record to get on their good side, all the while tormenting people from the shadows and only confronting someone once she was confident she had that person under her thumb.
Because without those things, she would crumple like paper. While she wasn't a weakling, she didn't have the ability to fight a girl trained by the military.
"You're right," Sunset said in a solemn voice. "I am cowardly little pussy. But I'm here at CHS because I want to make it up to everybody. I hurt your academic record, so let me do your homework for-"
"Too late," Gilda said, gritting her teeth. Sunset felt the pressure on her neck increase at Gilda tightened her grip. "Even if you told the teacher, it doesn't make up for me losing a whole summer. You want to make it up to me? Well, we have a whole lunch hour to..." Gilda's grip on Sunset loosened a bit. Sunset used that opportunity to duck under, managing to escape Gilda's grip.
Sunset tried to crawl away. To her confusion, Gilda never even tried to stop her. Instead, all Sunset heard was the snap of some fingers. Sunset saw the door open, and soon the amber-skinned girl was face to face with two sets of legs. Sunset meekly looked up, and her mouth turned dry.
Lightning Dust and Rolling Thunder stared down at her with viciously expressions. The two, while not nearly as tall and as powerful as Gilda, were tough athletes in their own right. The blue-green girl was kicked off the track team and took up mixed martial arts, while the purple Sydneigh native was on the wrestling team.
"I knew you'd try and escape like the little rat you are," Gilda said from behind her. "So I had my gal pals come to make sure you don't walk out of our...meeting." Sunset didn't see, but she imagined Gilda looking at her a venomous smile as she said that.
"Y-you called me a rat and then you bring in two people to help you beat me up?" Sunset asked with some hesitation. "Sounds fair." Lightning Dust and Rolling Thunder bristled at her words.
"Gilda isn't a coward!" Lightning Dust said with anger.
"Our mate doesn't need our help to finish a ratbag like you," Rolling Thunder said, her thick accent showing her utter contempt for Sunset. "We're just here to make sure no one enters...or exits." The two girls yanked Sunset up by her shirt and pushed her toward Gilda, who looked at her with a cold smile.
"C'mon Sunset," Gilda said in a falsely sweet tone. "If you can hit me once, I'll let you go." Sunset shook nervously. Gilda stood their with arms at her sides. She seemed completely unafraid of Sunset, which filled Sunset with more anxiety. Taking a deep breath, Sunset balled her fists and threw a punch at Gilda, only for the white skinned girl to catch the punch, and use the force to throw Sunset to the ground. Sunset let out a groan as she felt a pain go through her ribs.
The three girls laughed out of contempt. Sunset felt tears flow from her eyes, despite her attempts to control them. She felt Gilda walk over to her, and felt her backpack being ripped off her body.
"What are you doing to my stuff," Sunset said with a whimper. Sunset looked up and saw Rolling Thunder and Lightning Dust take the contents of her backpack and dump it in the sink. "Stop it," Sunset protested in a weak voice as her stuff was soaked. Suddenly Sunset felt herself being lifted up by her ankles. Gilda was carrying her upside down.
"Put me down," Sunset said, struggling as she was carried by her ankles by Gilda. She thrashed and thrashed, but was unable to break her legs out of Gilda's vice-grip. Gilda looked more amused than annoyed by Sunset's feeble attempts at escape.
"What are you-" Sunset said, before seeing where she was being carried: the toilet stall.
"No, no, please," Sunset said desperately. Despite her guilt, Sunset still couldn't hide her disgust at getting her head dunked. "Please, Gilda, I'll do anything."
"Well, this is a good lesson for you," the tall girl said in a casual tone, foisting Sunset over the white toilet. "Don't mess with my shit!" Sunset let out an impotent scream, as Gilda lowered her head into the can.
Rarity sat in science class, her mind thinking about where Sunset had been since lunch.
"What happened to Sunset?" Rarity thought to herself. The bell rung and Dr. Whooves entered the classroom.
"Good afternoon students," the brown-skinned man said, speaking in a posh accent. "Today we will learn about-" Whooves was interrupted by the door slamming open. Sunset enter the classroom. Her clothes had been soaked and what was left of her hair was dripping.
"Detention tomorrow," Professor Turner said simply, glancing at Sunset. "Now get to your desk."
"But sir," Sunset protested in a raspy voice. "I was being-,"
"Young lady," the brown-haired man said with some exasperation. "We are not in the mood for your excuses. Now grab a desk from the back, and bring it over to where I can see you." Sunset stopped her excuses, and with an utterly defeated expression, quietly grabbed a desk from the back and pulled it in front of Dr. Whooves. She sat down with an utterly forlorn expression as she looked at the class, who were almost totally unsympathetic to her plight.
Rarity looked with horror at both Sunset's ruined clothing and her utterly miserable appearance. She knew what Sunset had been subjected too, and while her brain was telling her to let Sunset wallow, her heart was telling her to do something to help the yellow-skinned girl.
Sunset miserably opened the locker, and pulled out the books from her backpack. Gilda had been utterly merciless, dunking not only her head in the toilet several times, but also her textbooks, homework, and notes out of revenge. She quivered her lips, almost on the verge of tears at seeing her work ruined. She silently slammed the locker shut.
"What are you doing?!"
Sunset turned around in fear, and saw a fuming Rarity glaring at her.
"Just...clearing out my locker," Sunset said timidly.
"No!" Rarity bellowed, making Sunset back up in fear. "What are you doing in those filthy clothes?!"
"Uh...I don't having anything else?" Sunset said with some confusion.
"Well, let's fix that," Rarity said. She took Sunset by her forearm and pulled her away from her locker. Sunset, too weak-hearted to resist, let Rarity drag her to where she needed to be dragged.
"Too red, too brown, too light, too dark," Rarity said, looking through various outfits she kept in the closet. She and Sunset were in the sewing room. Sunset was in a small fitting room, hidden behind a velvet curtain.
"Rarity," Sunset almost growled from behind the curtain. "Please make a decision before the heat death of the universe." Rarity chuckled at that.
"In a minute darling," Rarity said. She continued to rifle through her clothing. She smiled brightly as she handed an outfight to Sunset, who reached out a hand to get it. After a minute, Sunset came out from behind the curtain and saw a mirror. Sunset looked in awe at what she saw.
She was clad in a beautiful fall blouse with checkered spots of orange and yellow. Her pants were blue jeans with yellow lines around the ankles. On her head was a red winter cap that covered up her almost-bald head.
"Do you like it darling?" Rarity asked with interest. Sunset looked at her with a forlorn expression.
"Yeah I do," Sunset said in a soft voice. "When do you want me to return it?"
"Keep it."
"What?!" Rarity rolled her eyes with a smile.
"Darling, I have many, many outfits. One given away is no skin off my nose."
"Why are you doing this for me?" Sunset asked, almost on the verge of tears.
"Because, darling, that's what friends do," Rarity said simply.
"Friends?" Sunset asked in a whimpering voice, as if the idea of Rarity wanting to be her friend seemed incomprehensible.
"I will not lie darling," Rarity said with a small smile, "I was bit skeptical to trust you. After all, you did destroy my outfits, steal my data, and spread horrid lies about me to win all the proms." Sunset looked down in shame. Rarity put an understanding hand on Sunset's shoulder. "But Applejack told me about how you've worked hard on her farm to make amends. And faced with all the affronts of today, you've responded not with anger, but with acceptance." Sunset looked at Rarity with watery eyes. "After seeing all this, I see you do want to change. That's enough for us to be friends." Sunset, for once, was able to control her tears. After clearing her eyes, she looked at Rarity with a grateful smile.
"Well, if we're friends, maybe...I can do something for you in return," Sunset said with a sad smile. "I mean, you did give me an outfit for free." Rarity gave Sunset a gleeful smile.
"If you wish to do something for me," Rarity said, her eyes calculating, "then you can come on over to Carousel Boutique after school. You can help me in my goal."
"What goal?"
"Of making things chic, unique, and magnifique," Rarity said, repeating the slogan of her workplace. Sunset gave the fashion girl a grateful smile.
"Sure, I'd like that," Sunset said with a small smile.