"Nothing appears to be broken," Nurse Redheart said kindly as she examined Sunset's ankle. "All you need is some painkillers and rest and you should be able to walk again by tomorrow."
"Thanks," Sunset said with gritted teeth as she laid on the bed. Nurse Redheart was unique among the school's staff. The grey-skinned woman was the only person (aside from Applejack and her friends) who hadn't treated her with even a measure with contempt. When Sunset needed the glued-on backpack taken off of her head, Nurse Redheart helped without question, instead of being upset over her lost paycheck and the damage done to the school.
When Sunset asked her why she would care about someone like her, Redheart's response was simple.
"Because it's my job."
The small but firm words showed that the nurse would help anyone who bothered. Even a spoiled delinquent like her.
"Do you need anything?" Nurse Redheart asked empathetically, sitting in a chair in front of her. "Water, juice, something to read?"
"I'm good," Sunset said with a quiver. The woman's kindness was a small comfort, but it wasn't enough to overcome the crippling fear that engulfed her.
Sunset had been attacked before. But this was different.
Someone was attacking her from the shadows. Everyone who had attacked her had at least had the courtesy to air their grievance at Sunset and/or show their face. She didn't know who this person was, let alone their motive. Apparently, her public acts of atonement weren't enough to quench this person of their hatred.
What had she done to this person to make them so vengeful? This made her not only afraid and uncertain, but also ashamed, even though she didn't know what to be ashamed about.
This person's hatred went from vindictive to outright murderous. They were sending her death threats even a month and a half after the Fall Formal. And the fact that Sunset was knocked down the stairs proved that this person was willing to back up those threats.
This person was some kind of sadist. Someone out there dreamed of seeing her in a coffin, if those twisted pictures were any indication. The fact they were knowingly scaring her meant that they loved her pain and misery. They weren't just taking revenge, like Sprint or Gilda did. They were reveling in her suffering.
All these conclusions filled her with cold terror. Never before in her life did she ever feel so afraid. She usually had magic, the Princess, or her reputation to protect her. She had none of these, and her helplessness drove her to tears.
"Sunset don't worry," Nurse Redheart said soothingly, pulling the fired-haired girl into a hug.
"Why shouldn't I worry?" Sunset said in tears. "Someone wants to kill me. And I...probably deserve it."
"Don't say that," Redheart argued back, as if Sunset said some vile slur. "Despite all the mistakes you've made, you deserve to be happy. Don't let some...miserable person make you feel scared." the woman cooed. Sunset thought this woman was a saint. She wouldn't even insult the person who shoved her. "Just get better." The woman kept holding Sunset as she let out a pained sob every few seconds. Once Sunset's crying got under control, Nurse Redheart let her go.
"Do you want me to call your mom?" Nurse Redheart said.
"My mom?" Sunset said.
"Yes, your mom," Nurse Redheart said. Sunset blinked, before letting out an internal 'oh'.
"Nurse Redheart thinks my parents are here with me," Sunset remembered. Officially, her parents were "Solar Flare" and "Bright Corona", and they lived in the Canterlot area for 3 years. In reality, they didn't exist beyond some IDs and forms that she used whenever she needed parents' permission for things.
In Equestria, she had been paying taxes and covering her own expenses when she was already 13.
But in this world, Sunset was still a minor until she reached the age of 18. In order to be allowed to go to school and do other things she had already been doing on her own, Sunset had to invent fictional parents who would sign off on certain things that Sunset couldn't do on her own. In desperation, she turned to a criminal forger to create the parents she needed.
From buying her motorcycle to opening a stock portfolio, her fictional parents had helped her everyday. Sunset would always thank whatever deity existed in this world that she had brought gold and jewels with her, or else she would've been forced to live in a foster home.
Principal Luna and Celestia learned from Twilight the she had done this, but they allowed to slide. Sunset guessed that they hadn't shared that knowledge with the rest of faculty.
"No, don't," Sunset said abruptly. Nurse Redheart looked confused at Sunset's outburst. "Um...she's at...a meeting," Sunset muttered, rubbing her arm.
"Well, OK," Nurse Redheart said with confusion. "Anyways, just rest there for a few hours until you feel comfortable enough to stand up." Just as Sunset was about to continue her pity party, she heard the door slam open.
"Sunny," Pinkie Pie's squeaky voice said. "Are you OK?" Sunset turned around and saw Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie coming toward her.
"Uh Pinkie," Applejack drawled. "That isn't the kind of question to ask someone who fell down the stairs." Applejack calmly walked over to Sunset and sat on the bed next to her.
"How you feeling sug?" Applejack asked kindly. The blond girl's kind, innocent question didn't make Sunset feel better. Instead she just started crying again.
"I'm scared," Sunset said in a weak tone, still sobbing like crazy. She sounded less like a brash teenager and more like a lonely girl. "Someone wants to kill me. And I don't know what to do." Suddenly, she found herself smothered. She saw all three of her friends giving her a massive hug.
"Sunset," Applejack said in a soothing tone. "You don't have to be scared. We're gonna find the varmint who knocked you down the stairs, and we're gonna make sure they never hurt you again."
"Don't let some meanie make you feel terrible," Pinkie Pie said.
"No matter what happens, we're here for you," Fluttershy said in a soothing tone. The warm hug from her friends helped Sunset feel calm down. While her fears didn't go away, her friends helped remind her that there were people she could trust. People who she knew would help her no matter what.
"Thanks guys," Sunset said gratefully. Her friends released her from her hug.
"Do you want to sleep at my house until they catch the loon?" Applejack said.
"Yes," Sunset said, a grateful smile on her face. "Yes, I would love that." Sunset heard the sound of heels and saw Vice Prinicipal Luna march into the room. The woman looked at her with a mixture of anger and concern.
"Sunset, I heard about what happened," Vice-Principal Luna said. "I'm so sorry."
"It isn't like I didn't have this coming for a long time," Sunset Shimmer muttered bitterly.
"Sunset, don't say that about yourself," Principal Luna said in a disappointed tone.
"You're one to talk" Sunset said bitterly. "If Twilight hadn't stood up for me, you were gonna kick me out." Principal Luna looked down in shame. "You hated me like everyone else did."
"I didn't hate you Sunset," Principal Luna said. "I was...let down by you."
"Let down?"
"You know, a lot of students here think of me as the villain,"Luna said with some bitterness. "Because I have to be the one who gives out punishment. Because I'm the one who has to spoil their fun to protect them. While the kids wave at Celestia," Luna said with some bitterness ,"hardly any student ever...comes up to me to say hello," Principal Luna said. Sunset and her friends were downcast at that. "They're afraid that I'll give them detention for the most minor thing. When you first came here, and complimented me for all my hard work, I thought there was one student who understood that I'm just doing my job." Luna's mouth frowned. "Finding out that all you were just brownnosing me, and hurting others behind my back," Luna's lips began to quiver, "tore me up a little bit."
"Luna," Sunset said regretfully. "I'm so sorry."
"I know you are," Principal Luna said with an honest smile. "You've demonstrated to me that you don't just want to get out of trouble. You understand how much you've hurt people and have worked to make amends." Luna put a warm hand on Sunset's shoulder. "Believe me when I say that whoever knocked you down the stairs had no right to do that."
"Thanks," Sunset said. She felt her friends hugging her again which brought her spirits up.
"I came here to ask you if know you somebody who would've hated you enough to knock you down the stairs and send you death threats," Luna asked Sunset.
"Everyone," Sunset said. Luna looked at Sunset.
"Sunset, you have to be exaggerating," Luna said with a forced smile. Sunset looked down at her knees.
"Its true Madam Principal," Applejack said with some anger. "After Sunset cost my farm business, there were times I wanted to-" Applejack looked down in shame, unable to finish the sentence. Rarity and even Fluttershy also indicated they felt the same way about Sunset
"I don't blame you guys for how you feel," Sunset with some understanding. Her friends smiled at her, indicating they didn't feel that way anymore.
"Here's what I'm going to do," Luna said with a reassuring smile. "While I don't have leads, I'll make an announcement saying that the person can't get away with this. I'll also look at the security footage."
"Thank you," Sunset said gratefully. Principal Luna turned around and walked out of the room.
"So when do you think you'll be well enough that we can we go home?" Applejack said.
"Redheart says I can leave in a few hours," Sunset said. "Guys, thanks for checking up on me."
"That's what friends do for one another," Fluttershy said gratefully. Sunset felt both joy and a pang of shame.
"I'm lucky to know these girls," Sunset said regretfully.
Apple Bloom sat on her couch in the living room, texting her friends when she heard the door open.
"Hey sis," Apple Bloom said happily, as she saw her big sister walk into the house. "How's it-," she paused as she saw Sunset leaning on her sister.
"What is she doing here?" Apple Bloom said unhappily. Sunset frowned at that while Applejack looked disappointed.
"Apple Bloom," Applejack said in a scolding tone. "Someone knocked Sunset down the stairs and broke her ankle. I know you don't like her, but don't act rude."
"Really," Apple Bloom said with sadness, looking at the limping Sunset, seeing the bandage wrapped around her ankle. "Its too bad," Apple Bloom said with sad eyes. "It's too bad she didn't break her legs," she then said, her face shifting into a nasty sneer. Sunset frowned at Apple Bloom's cruel remark.
"Apple Bloom!" Applejack yelled. "You apologize to Sunset, or I'll get Granny and she'll make you."
"Go get her," Apple Bloom said in a smug, challenging tone. Applejack was about to yell for her grandmother before she felt Sunset's hand on her shoulder.
"Applejack, don't," Sunset Shimmer said with a shake of her head. "Apple Bloom," Sunset said regretfully. "Your brother told me about how your farm was nearly ruined by what I did. And how you couldn't get braces. I know what I did-,"
"You don't know anything!" Apple Bloom. "You don't know what I went through because of you!"
"Apple Bloom," Applejack said. "Stop being so-,"
"SHUT UP APPLEJACK!" Apple Bloom bellowed. Applejack was stunned by her sister's anger and shut her mouth. Apple Bloom turned her angry eyes back to the fire haired girl.
"You don't know what its like for people like me," Apple Bloom said bitterly. "When you talk like this, and live on a farm, people think you're dumber than a sack of hammers and eat mud." Apple Bloom looked down with some bitterness.
"In the seventh grade, after you cost us a lot of business, I had to walk around with crooked teeth and wear cheap, ratty clothes because all our money went to our mortgage," Apple Bloom said. "I looked like one of those poor hillbillies who sat around drinking moonshine."
"Sug, I had to go through the same things to," Applejack said gently. "We all had to sacrifice-,"
"For a whole year, Diamond Tiara and everyone else made fun of me because of how I looked like a stupid hick!" Apple Bloom shrieked. "They called me horrible words like 'hick', 'bumpkin', 'pigfu-',"Apple Bloom looked down in shame, remembering all her painful middle school memories. "They would throw garbage at me, saying they were getting me my favorite dinner," Apple Bloom said, tears falling out of her eyes. Applejack reached out to hug her baby sister, but Apple Bloom pushed her away.
"The teacher didn't do anything about it. After a while, I started believing them," Apple Bloom said, her eyes watering. "My grades got worse, I stopped going outside to play." Apple Bloom sniffled. "If I hadn't made friends with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, I don't know what I would've done."
"Apple Bloom," Sunset said regretfully. "I'm so-,"
"Every time you called Applejack and me names," Apple Bloom said in a shrill tone, "it reminded me of the worst year of my life." Apple Bloom let out another sneer. "So what if someone pushed you down the stairs," Apple Bloom said unsympathetically. "You're getting what you deserved." She clenched her fists and began weeping. "I was made fun of for something...I couldn't control." Sunset looked down in shame.
"Apple Bloom," Applejack said, her eyes full of sympathy. "I didn't know you still felt this way."
"If you really cared about me, you wouldn't have brought her here," Apple Bloom said angrily. "But what do I know? I'm just the little sister. That automatically makes me too dumb for you to care about anything I have to say," she finished furiously before storming up the stairs.
"Apple Bloom," Applejack called to her angry younger sister. "I don't think your an-," Apple Bloom reached her room, and slammed the door.
Applejack looked downcast, while Sunset stared at the door with no small amount of shame.