//------------------------------//
// 2: The Aftermath 
// Story: In Your Corner 
// by Bookish Delight 
//------------------------------//

Sunset sat on her bed in lonesome silence, head buried in her hands. 

The lights of her bedroom were dimmed, not to the point of removing all illumination, but still containing enough darkness to welcome the lights of the street lamps outside, as well as the moon high in the sky.

None of these light sources went noticed, however, because Sunset’s eyes were closed as a single thought echoed through her mind, over and over:

I’m not wrong.

Back in the old days, before she’d found friendship, it was a thought, an assertion, a mantra, that she would force herself to repeat every day, to make sure she continued to believe it. However, now, in the days of friendship—

forsaken friendship

I don’t need them

It was a thought she was hanging onto for dear life.

Call me whatever names you want. Blame me for whatever you want.

Sunset hugged her knees in front of herself. It was a position she was familiar with, because save for food, going to the bathroom, and sleep, it was the position she’d been sitting in for the last whole day and night.

Ignore me as much as you want. I don’t care. For me, and for you, it’s better this way. It’s better for all of us, in the end… if people hate me.

Maybe the bad old days hadn’t been so bad after all. Sunset gripped the sheets around her, gritting her teeth.

Why did I bother with any of this, anyway?

Just as her sadness was about to reach the lowest depths she’d ever experienced, her phone chimed with her text message tone.

Damn it. She must have forgotten to put it on Do Not Disturb. Only extra evidence at this point that the others were still angry… or just didn’t care. May as well turn it on now. She picked up the phone, ready to activate the feature… and realized that that would involve looking at the screen, which meant seeing who was trying to reach her.

Sunset sighed. There was no avoiding it, she supposed. She looked at the screen. Predictably, it was Twilight who had sent the first message out of all of them.

"Sunset, I’m really sorry. Can we talk?"

Sunset, out of reflex, out of instinct, out of—she had to face it—sheer unavoidable desire, nearly swiped to answer, only managing not to do so at the last second by Celestial force of will.

I can’t. Not yet. Besides, they were silent to me for over 24 hours, what’s another few?

Gritting her teeth again, she instead swiped the message away with a flick of her thumb, then navigated towards the Do Not Disturb icon…

…and then another text thrust itself to the front of the screen.

"Damn it, Twilight," Sunset growled, moving to push that one away too—only to notice that it wasn’t Twilight.

It was Rainbow Dash.

"hey you doing anything? besides sulking that is"

Sunset rolled her eyes. "What would you know about sulking?"

Another text chimed.

"probably sitting in bed in the dark with sad music"

Briefly, Sunset froze, stunned. Why hadn’t she turned on sad music? It would have given her something else, something mildly enjoyable, to focus on. Still, she went for the Do Not disturb icon again—only to be hit with a flurry of new messages before she could get the chance:

"hey"
"come on"
"i know you’re home"
"just tell me you’re home"
"it’s not like i didn’t already pop over to check😁"

With a much louder growl this time, Sunset hit the Reply button. "fine, i’m home. what do you want?"

A few seconds passed before Rainbow’s next message.

"sweet, one sec"

One second, and a single turn of Sunset’s head, was all it took. The curtain lining Sunset’s open window audibly buckled, blown back by as it was hit by a sudden, swift breeze.

And in the literal blink of an eye, Sunset saw Rainbow Dash standing in front of her.

"Sup," she said, her toothy grin heralding her appearance.

Sunset, however, didn’t share Rainbow’s jubilation. "Rainbow, what the heck—"





Was as far as she got.

With no time to dodge or react—though Sunset certainly tried—in the time it took to blink again, she felt forces on her, around her, wind whipping against her face, her hair, and clothes.

She felt gravity abandon her, felt herself rise off of the ground, weightless. The world became a blur of colors and lights. She didn’t have time to get sick, it all happened too fast for her body to consider the notion.

In less than ten seconds, it was all over.

And Sunset was definitely no longer in her bedroom.