//------------------------------//
// 9. Shattered Loyalty 
// Story: Sunset's Wonderful Life 
// by sonicfan05 
//------------------------------//

Sunset wasn’t even sure how long she was standing. As soon as she and her angel friend stepped into the school’s gym, Sunset was shocked. She couldn’t believe that the same gym she was in over an hour ago, trying to set up a Christmas party and Festival for Kids was now not only different, but bigger too. Aside the new school themed colors (of course), the gym now was about the size of two football fields. There was also a fancier new stage, a running track, basketball hoops, football goal posts, and the main ground even had an artificial turf. How Cinch had the money to change all of this, Sunset wasn’t certain. If it weren’t for the fact that she was in an actual alternative universe, Sunset would’ve thought that she was in an episode of that show Twilight introduced her to once.
 
"Jeez, they even changed the gym too?" Sunset exclaimed. "This looks like it was made for a sports stadium, not a High School!"

Rebecca shrugged. "Well, when it comes to Cinch, she wanted Crystal Prep to be the best of the best and will do everything to keep up with their so-called "reputation" as a superior school in the country, even if it's extreme."

Sunset blinked. "Um… don't you mean, in town?"

Rebecca shook her head. "No really! Crystal Prep became the greatest school of the country after a few years in time after taking over Canterlot High."

"Now I know you're making this up!" Sunset scoffed. "There's no way Crystal Prep became the best from the way Cinch runs it!"

Without saying a word, Rebecca simply pointed behind Sunset. Curious as to what Rebecca was pointing at, Sunset turned around, only for her eyes to bug out when she saw the plaque on the wall that said:



CRYSTAL PREP - The #1 Best High School in the Country



Sunset's shock was short-lived when she suddenly had an annoyed expression on her face. "Okay, now this alternate world is just mocking me!"

"C'mon! Move those legs people!"

Sunset turned towards the sound of a loud voice. Across from her, there was a group of students running around a big track of a gym. Some of the students were either neck to neck or partly behind as they ran halfway around the track. In the middle of the room, there stood an older man in a Crystal Prep track uniform with a whistle around his neck. Sunset recognized him as Wind Rider, one of the most famous Track and Field athletes in this world. And judging by his get-up, Wind Rider was probably the coach of this school. From what she heard about him, there was a recent scandal about Wind Rider that he tried to pin a rival of a crime just to preserve his record. He was then banned from every sports for life as a result. Sunset didn't know how he got himself hired as a coach, but she guessed that he and Cinch most likely had some sort of "deal" from behind the scenes.

"Keep it up!" Wind Rider barked. "Don't even think about slowing down!"

Eventually, the students have reached the finish line. As each one crossed the end point, Wind Rider glanced at his stopwatch, looking more and more unimpressed with each student.

"Better… but you're all still average!" Wind Rider bellowed with a stern expression. "You all need to try harder! Run faster! Our reputation is on the line!" He then breathed, calming himself down. "You all need to push yourselves further and take risks in order to be the best of the best! You all need to be exactly like our best athlete we have of our school!"

I bet he was talking about Rainbow Dash. Sunset thought with a grin. After all, she is literally the captain of every sports team of our--

"Lightning Dust! Get out here and show these bums how it's done!" Wind Rider shouted.

Sunset's eyes widened. "What!? Lightning Dust!?"

Sunset watched as a girl with a gold and orange hair ran towards the start of the track and hot herself into a position. Sunset remembered Lightning Dust is a girl who has a major ego, very competitive and loves to take risks. She is the equivalent of another Rainbow Dash, except that she is very reckless and did all sorts of dangerous stunts, not caring if she harmed anyone in her path. On top of that, she is also a major jerk and sees herself more superior than anyone else.

She and Rainbow Dash met one time during a soccer tryouts during school and hit it off at first. But after several training sections and a game that nearly injured one of her teammates due to her recklessness, Rainbow Dash booted her off of the team and Lightning Dust considered Rainbow as her rival since. After several of her dangerous reckless acts and bullying, Lightning Dust was eventually expelled from CHS, which was why Sunset was so shock of seeing her again.

With a blow of the coach’s whistle, Lightning Dust took off like a rocket and began sprinting around the track. As Lightning Dust was halfway around the track, Sunset admitted that she was impressed with her speed and could give Rainbow Dash a run for her money.

Too bad that Lightning Dust turned out to be a major jerk.

In no less than a second, Lightning Dust crossed the finish line, allowing Wind Rider to check his stopwatch and let out an impressed whistle.

"Sixty seconds on the dot! That's a new school record!" Wind Rider announced proudly. "As expected from our biggest sports star of our school!"

"Ha! Didn't even break a sweat!" Lightning Dust boasted, causing everyone, including Sunset to roll their eyes.

"And confidence! Something that you kids should take notes from!" Wind Rider added. He then checked his wristwatch. "Anyway, I'm heading to my office for a while. Lightning, show these bums how it's done!"

Lightning Dust grinned. "You got it grandpa!"

She immediately faltered when Wind Rider narrowed his eyes at her.

"I-I mean... yes coach!" Lightning Dust corrected.

Sunset blinked. So Lightning Dust is Wind Rider's granddaughter! Sunset thought. That explains so much! I guess the apple doesn't fall far from a tree!

With a satisfied nod, Wind Rider walked away from the group and disappeared into his office. One the old man was out of sight, Lightning faced the group with a scowl on her face.

"Alright you worms, if you wanted to be as close as me, then do as I say so! And don't even think about beating my record, otherwise… there will be another accident like what happened with Spitfire! Got it?"

The group of students gulped but nodded in obedience. While everyone began to warm up again, Sunset watched Lightning Dust with a scowl.

"What the hay is her problem?" Sunset exclaimed. "And how the heck did she become the top athlete of the school? This was the same girl who nearly send the whole track team to the nurse's office!"

Rebecca frowned. "Well Lightning Dust is the number one sports star of the school even before CHS becomes the Second Crystal Prep. But unlike Rainbow Dash, she uses intimidation, fear or whatever dirty trick in the book just to keep herself as the best!"

Sunset frowned in disgust about Lightning Dust's dirty method before her expression changed to worry. "I'm afraid to ask, but what does Lightning Dust mean when she said that Spitfire was in an... accident?"

Rebecca sighed. "Well at one point, Spitfire was right up there with Lightning Dust as the top players of the school for the soccer leagues. Lightning Dust felt threatened that Spitfire would take away her title, not even her intimidation methods didn't work on her. So during one of the matches… she "accidentally" broke Spitfire's leg and have her sit out for the rest of the season."

Sunset eyes widened in shock before her face twisted in disgust. "You gotta be kidding me!" she growled. "She did that to Spitfire… all for that stupid title of being the best?"

Rebecca nodded gravely. "Yes, what she did to Spitfire was a disgusting act. And unfortunately there are people who have this horrible mindset just to fulfill these petty acts, even if they have to hurt others in the process."

Sunset gritted her teeth in anger, hating Lightning Dust more and more. She couldn’t believe this girl would sink so low just to make herself look great. While Sunset had done some bad things in the past as a bully, but she could never bring herself to harm others just to get her way. How Lighting Dust kept getting away from her terrible acts was beyond her.

"What about Rainbow Dash?" Sunset questioned, while trying to calm herself. "Where is she in all of this?"

Before Rebecca could answer, Lightning Dust called out.

“Yo, water girl! Where’s my water? I should have my water five minutes ago!”
 
“Alright, alright! I’m coming! Sheesh!" someone cried with a raspy voice.

Sunset eyes widened. She recognized that voice. Her suspicions had been confirmed when a familiar girl with rainbow hair ran out of the locker room, nearly causing Sunset to drop her jaw. The girl’s hair was shorter, wearing a uniform with the words "Water Crew" on her chest and instead of her usual cocky and confident self, she looked all moody and miserable.

“R–Rainbow Dash!?” Sunset cried in shock and disbelief. “Rainbow Dash is the water girl!?”

She watched as Rainbow Dash continued to make her way towards a group of athletes with a tray of many water bottles. Each student took a bottle of water from Rainbow Dash, while not even thanking her or even acknowledged her. Finally, Rainbow Dash went over towards Lightning Dust.
 
“About time!” said Lightning Dust as Rainbow Dash handed her a bottle of water. "Seriously, you should've given me this water in ten seconds flat!"

Lightning Dust then took a swing of water, only to spat it out with a look of disgust.
  
“What the heck is this!?” Lightning Dust spat while glaring at Rainbow Dash. “I wanted cold water, not lukewarm!”
 
“I-I’m sorry," Rainbow Dash said nervously with a gulp. "B-but the waters weren’t cold enough yet!" She then pointed at the girl with blonde hair. "Besides, Cloud Chaser took the last cold water!"

Sunset stood in shock from Rainbow Dash's behavior while the girl in question gasped.

"Dash!? H-how could you?"

Lightning Dust send a glare at her, making the girl trembled in fear.

"I'll deal with you later, Cloud Chaser!" Lightning Dust growled before turning to Rainbow again. "And as for you Rainbow Crash, you're not off the hook! You should always reserve the coldest water for me and me only! And you should always keep it cold! And you've failed on both counts!"

Rainbow Dash then began to shake. “P-please Lightning Dust… give me another chance! I-I’ll try to make it colder!”
 
“No… I have a much better idea!” said Lightning with an evil grin. “When was the last time you showered Rainbow Dash?”

Rainbow Dash gave Lightning Dust her confused look. “U-um… this morning?”
 
“Well you’re looking awfully sweaty today Rainbow Dash! How about we... rinse you off!" Lightning chuckled with a sinister look.

Rainbow Dash eyes widened in fear and tried to back away, only to be trapped as other athletes circled around her. Before she could react, Lightning grabbed her and held her to the ground as she and the others took out their water bottles and dumped water all over her.

"No stop! PLEASE!" Rainbow Dash begged as water continued to pour all over her face.

As the girls laughed at Rainbow Dash's suffering, Sunset was trembling in rage. Rebecca noticed Sunset's reaction and tried to calm her down.

“Listen Sunset, I know this is hard to watch, but since you’re not from here, it’s best that you don’t get yourself involved in–”
 
“HEY! LEAVE HER ALONE!” Sunset screamed.
 
Rebecca could only sigh in annoyance. “Why does nobody ever listen to me?”

The bullies stopped in their tracks with looks of disbelief while Lightning Dust gave Sunset a cold glare.
 
“What did you say?” Lightning Dust challenged as she stood up.
 
“I SAID, leave her alone!” Sunset repeated with a more edge to her voice.

Lightning Dust took a good look at Sunset before cocking an eyebrow. “Um… who the heck are you?"
 
“Your worst nightmare if you and your cronies keep bullying her!” Sunset threatened.
 
“Me? Bullying her!” Lightning Dust scoffed. “We were only showing this trash her place if she didn’t do her job right, especially for a sport star like me!”
 
“I don’t care who you are!" Sunset exclaimed. "That doesn’t mean you should treat people like that! Just wait until I report you to the principal of this school!”

There was silence for a moment, until Lightning Dust threw her head back and laughed. Much to Sunset's confusion, everyone else laughed along with Lightning Dust as if they just heard something funny. And about a minute of laughter, Lightning Dust and the others finally calmed down.
 
“Was that a joke just now?" Lightning Dust jabbed with a chuckle. "I haven’t laughed this hard in a while!”
 
Sunset's eyes narrowed in anger. “Do I look like I was joking?”

Lightning Dust grinned smugly. “You must be new here!” she said as she slowly walked over to Sunset. “Listen here newbie, I’m only going to say this once; I’m in charge! And I get to decide who is the winner and who is the loser! And right now, both you and Rainbow Trash are losers!” 

She then jabbed her finger on Sunset's chest. “And even if you decided to rat me out, Principal Cinch won’t care about you, Trash or anyone in this school! All she cares about is using the best of the best by any means for our school’s reputation! And since I’m the top athlete of this school, Cinch is willing to turn her blind eye to keep me on top, while you suffer from the hands of both her… and me!”

Sunset tightened her fist. “That’s not right! No student or adult should treat anyone that way! And you don’t deserve to be on top for not only being disrespectful to others, but also being an arrogant, reckless, selfish and talentless punk!”

The students gasped out loud from Sunset's boldness while Lightning now had a cold fury on her face. She immediately grabbed Sunset by the front of her jacket and brought Sunset up to her face.
 
“…you just made a grave mistake, newbie!” Lightning Dust hissed aggressively.

Before a fight had started, Wind Rider suddenly burst out from his office and rushed towards them after hearing a commotion.
 
“What’s going on here?” Wind Rider demanded.

Lightning Dust immediately let's go of Sunset and gave him her innocence look. “Nothing Gran- I mean, coach! I was just… showing this new kid the ropes of how we run here!”

Wind Rider narrowed his eyes. “Well you can show her the ropes another time! We’re closing the gym soon!” She then glared at Rainbow Dash, not caring how wet she is. “And water girl! Clean up that mess you made!”

Without another word, Wind Rider stormed his way back to his office and slammed the door behind him. Lightning Dust turned towards Sunset with a glare.
 
“You’re lucky this time newbie!” She spat. “But the next time we meet, you’re going to wish that you’re never been born!”

Lightning Dust and her cronies headed towards the locker room, but not before she roughly shoved Sunset with her shoulder. 

Sunset scoffed. Hmph! Well joke’s on her! I already did!

Sunset then ran up to Rainbow Dash and offered her hand towards her. "Hey, you okay?"

Rainbow Dash grunted as she slapped Sunset's hand away. "I don't need your help!"

As Rainbow Dash got herself up from a wet floor, Sunset was flabbergasted with her friend's attitude. Rainbow Dash can be stubborn at times, but she never acted this coldly when someone offered to help.

"But… Lightning Dust and the others were bullying you!" Sunset exclaimed. "I can't just stand by and do nothing!"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Yeah well, no thanks to you, Lightning Dust is targeting me now more than ever! And it looks like she's targeting you as well!"

"Please, she doesn't scare me! I dealt with people who are far worse than her!" Sunset said with a smirk before her expression became serious. "Why can't you just report all the things she had done to you to the Principal?"

As Rainbow Dash squeezed the water out of her shirt, she stared at Sunset like as has two heads. "Have you been listening to her? With Principal Cinch in charge, she'll do everything she can to keep this school a "good reputation". As long as Lightning continues to give benefits to our school, Cinch will keep allowing that jerk to treat us that way because we're nothing to her! And before you suggest anything else, the teachers won't help us either as long as Cinch rules them under her thumb!"

Sunset couldn't believe that Cinch would be cruel enough to keep up with the school's reputation over the safety and concern for the students. It was also hard to believe that everyone in the school faculty will have to follow Cinch's ways. If no teacher in school are willing to help these students, then who else will they turn to?

"What about your friends?" Sunset asked softly. "Won't they help you?"

Rainbow Dash scoffed. "Friends? I have no friends! Everyone I knew ditched me, including Fluttershy! I learned long ago that the only person who you should be loyal and look out for… is yourself!"

Horrified from what she heard, Sunset shook her head. "I don't know what happened between you and your friends, but a friend of mine once said that you should always be loyal and stick up for your friends! No matter how bad things will be, sticking by your friend's side is worth fighting for!"

"Yeah well... tell your friend that she's wrong!" Rainbow snapped as she stomped her way towards the locker room. "Now leave me alone and don't come near me again!"

Sunset was about to go after her, but Rebecca grabbed her shoulder and shook her head. Sunset watched helplessly as Rainbow Dash headed into the lockers but not before noticing a tear trailing down Rainbow's cheek. The two girls stood there in silence for a moment before Rebecca let out a sigh.
 
"Welp… that went well!"

Sunset shook her head. “I don’t understand," Sunset said quietly. "The Rainbow Dash I know is usually very confidant and full of herself, but also a very loyal person to a fault! But this… she a total opposite of the Rainbow Dash I know!”
 
Rebecca nodded. “Yes. It was indeed a sad sight of a once strong person is now reduced to a self-doubting and somewhat cold person.”

Sunset gave Rebecca her melancholy, yet curious look. “You said that without me, each of my friends lives will be difficult! But how do I fit in Rainbow Dash’s life? She worked so hard to get herself into a sporting career and she wouldn’t let anyone walk all over her, even me back when I was a bully!”
 
“Well you’re half right,” Rebecca replied. “Yes, Rainbow Dash is usually a strong-willed person, but only because she has friends by her side. Like Pinkie Pie, she too was secretly insecure with herself of failing to live up to her own image or self-worth. But she’s usually strong when she got friends to cheer her on.”
 
“But she has friends even before she befriended me!” Sunset pointed out.
 
“True, but believe it or not, her self-confidence improved drastically after she befriended you!” said Rebecca, surprising the bacon haired girl. “And on top of that, you’re evil plans of separating her and Applejack actually lead her life for the better!”
 
“Huh?” Sunset uttered in disbelief. “You must be joking! How does my evil scheme actually helped her? At the time, I did that just to weaken the bonds between them so they don’t stand in my way.”
 
“Life can work in such a mysterious, yet very funny way!” Rebecca chuckled. “Are you familiar with the butterfly effect?”

Sunset shook her head. 

“A butterfly effect is an interesting phenomenon from a chaos theory that a small change in one state of a complex system can result in a large difference in a later state in time!” Rebecca defined. 

When Sunset gave her a blank expression, Rebecca clarified. 

“In other words, whatever decision or action you made that may be a small thing, could potentially lead to a much bigger outcome later in life either towards you or someone else in the long run. What happened to Pinkie Pie was a great example to that. Because you gave her the time of day and became her friend at the Freshmen Fair (even though it was one-sided at her end), it leads her to become a much happier person and a major social butterfly… no pun intended.”

Sunset nodded, understanding Rebecca's words. “Okay, as interesting as this sounds, but what does that have to do with Rainbow Dash?”
 
“By sending fake emails to Rainbow Dash and Applejack about the Bake Sale at two separate times and places… you prevented Rainbow Dash from ever meeting the person who you saw was bullying her now!” Rebecca revealed.

Sunset's eyes widened. “You mean… my actions prevented Rainbow Dash from meeting Lightning Dust?”
 
Rebecca nodded. “Yes. You see, had their bake sale went exactly as scheduled without your interference, Rainbow would never have the misfortune of befriending Lightning Dust. Yes, she did eventually meet her anyway at a later date, but back then, she was still a little naive and a little more cocky when it comes to meeting people. Rainbow Dash instantly became friends with her because of their common love for competitiveness and to be the best. It went well at first, but then Lightning Dust slowly convinced her to do a few things things that risked getting people hurt and ditched Fluttershy." 

Rebecca then frowned. "But things went worse on the day of tryouts for sports. Because of her own selfish interest and wanted to get rid of her potential tough rival, Lightning Dust framed Rainbow Dash for cheating the game. And as a result, not only Rainbow Dash was kicked out of any sports activities, but Lightning Dust also single-handedly ruined Rainbow Dash's chances of getting her future sports career. Her reputation were also in tatters and everyone turned against her… including her 'younger sister', Scootaloo." She sadly shook her head. "And on top of that. Rainbow Dash was loyal to Lightning Dust until the betrayal. And as a result, she never became loyal to anyone else ever again."

"So that's why she ratted Cloudy Kicks when Lightning Dust demanded about the water!" said Sunset before she scowled. "And to think, Rainbow Dash became like that because of that witch!"

"Yes, that is unfortunate," Rebecca added with a nod. "But because of you, she never met Lightning Dust until much later! Just hanging around and befriending you, Rainbow Dash became much more wiser and maybe a little bit more mature enough to see Lightning's schemes!" She then smiled. "While she never mentioned it, but she owe you for making her become the person she is today; both good and bad. Which reminds me...”

Rebecca then snapped her fingers. Sunset was a little confused at first, until she lost the feeling of cold air touching her skin. She looked herself over for a moment, only to be alarmed afterward when she sees her body no longer solid. She then looked at her hand, or rather, she looked through her hand. It was as if she was becoming a ghost, but was still alive. Although whether she is alive or not, Sunset was not certain. She then immediately looked at Rebecca who was also now becoming a see-through.

"Wha- what did you do to me!?" Sunset demanded, both angry and confused with Rebecca's actions.

"Relax Sunset," Rebecca soothed. "I just used a spell to make ourselves invisible, as well as intangible. Meaning, people will no longer see and hear you and you won't be able to touch them and vise versa."

"What!? Why did you do that?" Sunset shouted.

"Because you didn't heed my instructions to not engage with your friends and you didn't listen, twice! So I had to take drastic measures!" Rebecca stated sternly before her expression changed to a thoughtful look. "Now that I think about it, it's kinda fitting because you don't exist in this world anyway."

Before Sunset could ask if Rebecca's spell works, Wind Rider suddenly showed up again.

“Oh, I almost forgot everyone! Our next meeting will be at–” He paused when he noticed a huge puddle of water in the middle of the floor and not the two people in front of him. “HEY! Where did everybody go! And why is the floor still wet?" He huffed. "When I see that water girl again, I have a few choice of words to say to her!”

With that he headed back to his office, grumbling the whole way. He didn't even noticed that he walked through Sunset in the process. For Sunset, it felt pretty weird as if a wind flew past her. Once Wind Rider disappeared, Sunset turned to Rebecca with wide eyes.

“It… it works!” Sunset uttered.

“Of course it works!" said Rebecca in a matter-of-fact tone. "A Guardian Angel is required to know these spells in case of situations like this!” She then started to head towards one of the gym's exits. "Now come! "We've got more places to be!"

Sunset groaned. "Where are we going now?"

Rebecca paused before facing Sunset. "There’s a certain farm that we must attend to!"