//------------------------------//
// Ups and Downs 
// Story: Live By The Sword... 
// by redandready45 
//------------------------------//

Quick stood in the middle of Canter Park, carrying a shovel that was only a few inches shorter than him, wearing a thick red coat and a yellow vest, and hearing the instructions of the police officer sent to supervise him. Normally a lively place in warmer weather, the park was utterly bleak and desolate as winter loomed. The sky was an ugly grey, yet it was just warm enough for the freshly fallen snow to start melting. The ground was slushy, and the trees had been stripped clean of their leaves, making them look ugly and foreboding in the dim light. 

The environment was particularly fitting for how he felt.

"Get to digging," the officer bellowed. 

Quick knew he brought it upon himself, he knew what he did was his own fault. He acted in revenge. He acted in hate. But it didn't change the pain he felt. Destroying his own reputation, betraying the trust of the friends he had, having a mark on his permanent record. He didn't enjoy the guard looking at him like he was some deviant who would explode. 

There were only two real bright spots he had: that his mom owned up to her own mistakes and didn't kick him out of the house like he feared. And Muharib was seeing a therapist. That, and getting a written apology from Vice Principal Luna, had raised her spirits quite a bit.

But that was small potatoes compared to everything else he lost.

After two hours, the guard told him to stop and take his 30 minute lunch break. With a deep frown, he sat down on some soggy wooden bench and began eating his baloney sandwich. He ate his food without much joy. His poor mood stopped him from feeling any taste. He looked around and saw his officer walked away, presumably to take his own break. 

After finishing his food, Quick sat still, staring idly at the ground. It took him a few moments to hear the sound of crunching snow. Several people were walking toward him. His mood deteriorated when looked up and saw who it was.

His, former team. And Rainbow Dash. He understood what they were there for. He had betrayed their trust. He had sent Twinkle to the hospital. Rainbow Dash hated him for what he did to Applejack. They were here to pay him back with interest. He struggled not to flinch at seeing the bandage on Twinkle's throat. 

With a solemn calm, he decided to walk toward his former friends and face the music. He had stabbed them in the back. He deserved whatever they were about to give him. When they saw him approaching, they looked at him with a calm expression. He couldn't tell if it was disappointment, icy anger, or both. 

"G-go a-ahead," Quick said to his former team and CHS's top athelete in a quiet voice. "D-do your worst." It was Sparky who stepped first. Sparky was the tallest and strongest person on the team. If anyone could deliver a good beating, it was the yellow-skinned giant.

"Yes," Sparky said, in what was a deathly quiet voice. "We'll do our worst." Sparky stopped in front of him.

"Close your eyes," he ordered. 	Quick did. He guessed they wanted to give him some dignity as they wailed on him. He felt his arms being moved and something being place in them.

"Open."

He opened, and...

A box of baklava was being placed in his hands.

"Y-you g-got m-me baklava," Quick said incredulously.

"Yeah," Ozone, a blue-skinned member with yellow hair said in a playful tone. "That is our worst. Instead of getting kanafeh, you have to settle for plain ol' baklava."

"Why?" Quick said, tears rolling down his eyes. "I betrayed you guys. I put Twinkle in the hospital." He looked at Rainbow Dash. "I put Applejack in the hospital."

"Yeah, you did," Sprint said in a serious tone. "And it was beyond fucked up." He looked down. "But the truth is, we weren't much better."

"What you did was your fault," Zip, a runner of average height with blue hair and grey skin, said, "but we set a bad example for you. We hurt Sunset too, and didn't teach you any better."

"And so did I," Rainbow Dash said in a regretful tone. "I knew what you guys were doing. And I let it go on because...I enjoyed Sunset getting hurt."

"And," Sprint continued, "we heard about what happened to Muharib, and how your mom made you not tell." His face twisted into a frown. "How could you not be messed up by that?"

"And you were a good friend," Rainbow Dash, honest admiration in her voice. "You stuck by Muharib when no one else would. Despite everything, you did it because you cared about her. You also didn't reveal Sunset's forged lease documents went you could've."

"And your insanity did accomplish something," Twinkle said, his voice still hoarse.

"What?" Twinkle handed Quick a newspaper, with a certain story circle with a red ink pen.



 

Sea Breeze invited her newest charge into her office. This new girl, with ivory locks and flawless pink skin, had the looks she rarely got in this dunghole prison. And Sea Breeze felt....boredom that she had to release.

"You wanted to see me, Ms. Sea Breeze?" the 14 year old girl asked.

"Yes Strawberry," Sea Breeze said, affecting a welcoming smile. "I just wanted to let you know that just because you robbed a jewelry store doesn't make you a bad person."

"Thank you," the girl said kindly. This girl seemed way too soft for the crime she was accused off.

"I just wanted to help you begin your first step toward rehabilitation," she said, handing Strawberry a glass of her "special" cherry soda.

"Thank you," Strawberry said, taking a big gulp. Sea Breeze turned around to hide her wide smile as the fool drank it all down. 

"So what do you hope to accomplish," Sea Breeze said, waiting for the drug to kick in, "when you get out?"

"I don't-," the girl paused for a moment, got woozy, before collapsing. 

"Yes," Sea Breeze said. Almost immediately, she began peeling off the clothes of the unconscious girl, her anticipation grew as she tore away the inconvenient clothes. Then someone knocked on the door. 

She let out an annoyed sigh. She prepared to use the usual "they were resisting arrest" excuse she used when she was caught with an unconscious girl. She walked up to the door, only to be greeted by several provincial police officers.

"Sea Breeze," the lead officer, a white-skinned man, said. "By the authority vested in me by the Province of Seaboard, I hereby place you under arrest for the sexual abuse of minors."

"Officers," Sea Breeze said with a fake smile ,"surely there is some mistake."

"No there isn't," a voice said. Sea Breeze turned around and too her shock, and saw Strawberry awake and looking at her with a devilish grin. To her greater confusion, the soda poured down her pants leg onto the floor.

"Magic trick I learned," the girl said as she pulled out a badge and revealed she had a camera and microphone. Sea Breeze felt her entire life crash around her. She barely noticed when the police put her in cuffs, read her rights, and dragged her from the room.





The first true smile Quick had in a long while formed on her face as he read the story.

"While what you did was bad," Sprint said. "We can also forgive you because at least you brought a sick fuck to justice."

"And," Twinkle said, "like I said, were brothers. Brothers fight. But brothers also forgive."

"And if we can forgive Sunset for turning us into zombies and trying to kill us," Rainbow said. "We can definitely forgive you for what you did."

"There's just two things you have to do," Sprint said.

"What?"

"One: Don't ever do this again," Sprint said firmly.

"OK."

"Two," Twinkle said, "I care about Sunset. I care about her a lot. I know you still don't like her. And that's fine. But please respect the fact that I still think she's cool and I can hang out with her."

"OK," Quick said. "I c-can't I-imagine she's h-happy a-around me."

"No," Rainbow said. "But she wanted me to ask you something."

"What," Quick said, his heckles rising a bit.

"What can she do to make it up to Muharib?"

"Tell her," Quick said with strained patience, "that Muharib would rather not think about Sunset right now, and she should stay away."

"OK," Rainbow said, respectfully.

"Whatever you might feel," Sparky said in a softer tone, putting a large hand on Quick's shoulder, "you're not behind hope. We're still your bros to the end."

With that, Quick lost his composure and broke down in tears. He felt Sparkly pulling him a hug that was surprisingly gentle for someone as big as him. As Quick cried and cried, saying the occasional apology, more and more of his friends joined in the hug, assuring him that they didn't hate him.

For the first time ever, Quick didn't feel so alone. He hoped he would never have to be alone again.





Sunset knew returning to Canterlot High was not going to be a cakewalk, but she was taken aback by the fear and hostility that radiated from the students in the courtyard, which was unusually crowded despite the cold weather. The only thing that kept her from packing up and leaving was her friends, Sprint, and Twinkle behind her. Bon Bon approached them with a nasty grin.

"Look, it's Sunslut," Bon Bon said with a nasty grin. "Come back to frame someone else." Some of the other students began looking at Sunset with increasing derision hostility.

"Lay off her," Applejack said with a frown.

"I'm sorry," Bon Bon said. "I'd rather not have a walking disaster area near me."

"Leave her alone," Twinkle growled.

"What if I don't," Bon Bon said mockingly. "Are you gonna frame me too?" Sunset looked down sadly. 

"Why can't you lay off her," Pinkie Pie said. 

"Because I, and most of us, want this piece of-,"

"You're not a good person!" Rainbow yelled to Bon Bon. Bon Bon looked confused and a bit annoyed by Rainbow's remark.

"What did you say?" Bon Bon asked.

"You're not a good person," Rainbow said. "Your a lazy, little pussy."

"What?" Bon Bon said incredulously. "I'm not the one who got Muharib sent to-,"

"Oh, you think that's what it takes to be a good person?" Rainbow replied an unimpressed tone. "Not framing people for holding knives. I suppose you want credit too for not hitting pedestrians. You also want a medal for not robbing a bank. You know what a good person does?  A good person is brave. A good person does the right things even when its hard. And Sunset did that more than you ever have in your entire life."

"You gonna compare me to her," Bon Bon said with some anger, gesturing with her hand to Sunset. "She's the one who got Muharib sent to juvie!"

"let me ask you a question. Did Sunset stop you from paying her a visit in juvie?" Rainbow Dash asked Bon Bon. Bon Bon was stunned by the question.

"What?"

"Did Sunset prevent you from visiting Muharib?" Rainbow Dash asked, crossing her arms. Bon Bon couldn't really answer.

"Well, why would I? I thought she was a criminal," Bon Bon replied. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and turned to glare at Bon Bon.

"Ever heard of something called loyalty?" Rainbow Dash said. "Loyalty means sticking by someone no matter how hard it gets. Even if Murahib had been guilty, even if Murahib did actually stab someone, a real friend would've stuck by her and made sure she got better. Sunset may have gotten Murahib arrested, but YOU CHOSE TO ABANDON HER!" Bon Bon's pompous expression fell into one of shame. 

"And do you know why you did that?" Rainbow said in a quiet voice. "For the same reason you accused me of pushing Blossomworth off the ledge, for the same reason you spread a rumor that Sunset paid my friends into sitting next to her, for the same reason your putting her down now. You're a lazy, selfish, stupid, brat!" Bon Bon's face fell even further. "You may not be a supervillain, but your not a good person, because you'll do what's only good for you." Rainbow took a deep breath.

"You know why I hated Sunset," Rainbow said in a calm voice. "Because she tricked me into hating Fluttershy. And because of that, I let Sunset bully and pick on Fluttershy all the time. But if I were a good person, I would've defended her anyways. I would've stepped in, and pushed Sunset away. Maybe its Sunset's fault for making me hate Fluttershy, but I chose to abandon her in her time of need. No good person does that." Fluttershy put a warm shoulder on her arm.

"Sunset did horrible things, but you know what? She stayed here to try and make amends. She could've transferred to another school, or skipped town, but she stayed to make things rights, even when people were throwing things at her, and calling her names." Bon Bon looked down shamefully, and rubbed her arm. "Would any of you have the guts to do that? No." She took another deep breath.

"And you know what else? Quick is a better person than you." Bon Bon looked even more stunned and ashamed. "Yeah, what he did was beyond messed up. And I'm still angry at him for what he did to Applejack, but he was at least trying to help his friend in his own way. That's more than I've seen from you," she said to a forlorn Bon Bon, "or any of you," she said, yelling to entire assembled crowd. 

"The easy thing would be to ditch him for the horrible things he did. But you know what? I'm not gonna ditch him.  I'm gonna help him, and so are Sprint and Twinkle," she said, looking happily toward the two track team captains, who looked at everyone else in defiance. "Twinkle has every reason to hate Quick, but he's not gonna abandon someone he considers a little brother."

"And if you think Sunset should leave, maybe I should too," Rainbow Dash said in quiet, but firm voice. "Because of what happened to Blossomworth, I should be hated for the rest of my life? Right. If your gonna treat Sunset that way, treat me that way." The whole crowd went silent. "But your not gonna treat me that way. Not because is the right thing to do, but because I'm useful to you. You love me only when I win championships. That's not being good, that's just caring about yourselves." 

She took another deep breath, before continuing. 

"I'm not saying you all don't have a right to mad at Sunset," Rainbow Dash said. "I'm not saying you have to be her friend. But you try to push her around, don't ever think any of you are good. The reason why you're hurting Sunset is because your lazy idiots who'll do only what's easy. Because any idiot can hold a grudge. Any idiot can kick someone when their down. But being nice to someone, even when its hard, is the bravest thing ever. And I've seen more of that from Sunset, my friends, Princess Twilight, the track team, and Quick than the rest of you combined." 

The crowd hung their heads in shame. One by one, many of them shuffled into the school, feeling like garbage. Bon Bon gave Sunset a somber look, before turning away and walking shamefully into the main building.

Rainbow saw her friends giving her a look of pride, before rushing into to give her a group hug,.

"Rainbow, that was incredible."

"I'm so proud of you."

"You're the bestest friend ever."

"Eloquent and excellent."

"Thanks," Sunset simply said, "for standing up for me."

"Well, I find you mildly tolerable," Rainbow said with a fake frown. "And the truth is, I want to beat your butt at Soccer Time, and I can't do that if you skip town."

"Can't wait to see if I can," Sunset said, recognizing that Rainbow was trying to be friendly in her own way. "Anyways, we'll find out after class." The six friends marched to class. 

"Hey Sunset," Twinkle said. The fire-haired girl turned back to the red-skinned athlete, who was looking at her with a warm smile. "You still up for Saturday?"

"Sure," Sunset said with a smile, :well, after my court date," she said sheepishly, before walking back with her friends. Sprint began chuckling.

"What's so funny?" Twinkle said.

"I remember you used to have these really thick braces in the 6th grade?" Sprint said. 

"And,"

"All those punks were calling you a nerd and I acted treated you like my sidekick," Sprint said. "But you have more of a romantic life than me or any of those jerks."

"Don't worry," Twinkle said with a grin. "You could always join us for a ménage a-," Sprint playfully punched Twinkle with a grin, telling him to shut up. 





On a park bench, a lonely green girl watched the events with confusion while enjoying her freshly made salad.

Wallflower Blush normally did not feel strong emotions. She normally did not get angry. 

But for some reason, she felt...perplexed...angered even. Seeing Sunset being defended and hanging out with friends filled her with...she don't know how to describe it. 

Maybe it was because she wanted friends. And Sunset having friends filled her with...

She gripped her fork tightly watching Sunset joining in a group hug.

"How come a monster like her gets friends, but I end up alone." Before realizing it, Wallflower snapped the plastic fork in two, gritting her teeth in frustration.





Sunset and Twinkle walked out of the juvenile court with mixed feelings.

"100 hours of community service ain't so bad," Twinkle said uneasily.

"But because I'm still in school," Sunset said, "I can only do it on weekends."

"What about afternoons," Twinkle said.

"Too busy," Sunset said sadly. "Which means I'll only have a weekend free in...two months."

"Do you get a lunch break during your community service?"

"Yeah," Sunset said.

"We can have our dates then," Twinkle said.

"Sounds like a plan," Sunset said with a smile. "Want to make the most of my last free weekend for a while.

"Sure," Twinkle said, taking Sunset's hand into his own hand.

Sunset walked into the bakery. Many of the customers looked at her with distaste, most likely aware of her horrible crime against Muharib. Rainbow's speech may protect her from abuse, but they hadn't healed her reputation completely.

Normally, such looks would make her feel even colder than if she was standing outside. But having a boyfriend who cared about her despite her bad history helped her endure it. If the looks she was getting were cold, it just made Twinkle's warm smile even warmer. 

While she still dreamed of the day when everyone would wave to her rather than look at her with fear, Twinkle's smile would have to do for now. And for Sunset, that was A-OK. 

Well, as long as she got some of those delicious all natural donuts.