//------------------------------// // Chapter 08 (Edited by : Moonriseoversunset) // Story: You Will Never Be Alone // by Leo Luce //------------------------------// Friday passed without a hitch, other than Fluttershy's occasional bugging to know if Sunset's okay and Lighting Dust trying to bully her, which was intercepted by surprisingly Rainbow Dash. It happened sometime after lunch when Sunset went to get some supplies from the janitor. Sunset was walking towards the janitor's office when she was grabbed from behind. Breaking free from the gapping hands allowed her to see her attacker, only to see Lighting Dust with her lackeys behind her. "Sunset Shimmer… you have a lot of nerve to come back here after what you've done, don't you?" Lighting Dust said. "Uh- L-Lighting Dust l-look I-" Sunset tried to talk, but was interrupted when she received a punch in the face from Lightning Dust sent her sprawling on her back. "Shut up. Just because those girls are with you doesn't mean we are going to forget what you did and be nice to you. I'm convinced you used some mind trick or something to make them like you. Just like you did that night." Lightning Dust bellowed as she grabbed Sunset by the front of her shirt. Sunset's eyes began to water both from Lightning's comment and the pressure to her back. "Oh, drop the act and get up, She-Demon." She yelled into her face, holding her up as Sunset refused to stand. 'Don't, do it. I'll turn into her again. I don't want to hurt anyone again. She'll leave if I don't do anything.' Sunset thought to herself as she shook her head. "Why? What happened to the big bad Sunset? Where's all that talk about you putting me in the ground? Why aren't you-" "Hey, that's enough." They all turned to see Rainbow Dash glaring at Lighting Dust. "Hey Rainbow, what are you-" Lighting tried to talk, but Rainbow cut her off again. "Did you forget we have soccer practice now?" She said with a glare. "Now get going, you are already late, the practice began fifteen minutes ago. You know I don't like flakes on my team." "Fine, Cap," Lighting said before running off with her lackeys. "R-Rainbow-" Rainbow quickly glared at Sunset, before following Lighting Dust without saying a word. "Thank you," she mumbled. Although it didn't seem like Rainbow helped her, Sunset had a feeling that Rainbow actually did save her there. Things were slowly looking up for Sunset. Sunset left her room and headed down the staircase into the kitchen and saw principal Celestia sipping from a coffee cup. "Ah Sunset, you're up. Here," Principal Celestia said, giving Sunset a cup of coffee. "Thanks," Sunset said, taking the cup. She sat beside Celestia and began to sip the coffee when suddenly she saw something she'd never thought she'd see. She watched slackjawed as Vice-Principal Luna strolled in like a zombie. She staggard towards the coffee mug, mumbling incoherently. Sunset watched at this with awe, the coffee seemingly reviving her instantly. "Hehe, you'll get used to that," Celestia said, smiling. "So, do you have any plans today?" "Um… I have to go to my job today." She said. "Job? Do you really need one anymore? You don't need the money, you are staying with us now," Celestia stated. "Well, I'm not going to be with you forever-" Sunset got interrupted by the sound of Luna chocking on her coffee. "Cough –cough- sorry," Luna said, holding her throat. "And this was the only job that I could find from the little paperwork I had. And, I kind of liked the job." "What do you mean liked the job?" Celestia asked. "Well, the staff is really nice. And you got to wear a traditional Kimono," Sunset twiddled her thumbs with a slight blush. "Hehe, do you want me to take you there?" Celestia asked. "N-no, it's okay. I can get there myself. It's not that far from here." Sunset said. "... Principal Celestia, can I ask you something?" She asked uncertainly. "Yes, what is it?" She asked. "Um… It's okay if you say no… but… Fluttershy is worried about where I stay and keeps asking to know where I stay. I don't know how long I'm going to stay here. So I guess I was wondering if I can tell her?" "You'll be staying here longer than you think. So as long as it's only Fluttershy that knows, I see no problem. That being said, I can't stress how important it is for this to stay under wraps. But this is Fluttershy we're talking about, so there should be no cause for concern. I've noticed you are quite close to her." Celestia said teasingly. "I-I'm not... we're not like... oh dear," Sunset stammered out clearly flustered about what Celestia was suggesting. Both Celestia and Luna laughed at that. After getting ready, Sunset got ready and left the house and walked toward the bus stop. She was just about to sit when suddenly she heard a ping. Standing still, she pulled out her phone and typing in her code of 7669 and saw it was a text from Fluttershy. Fluttershy: Good Morning, Sunset. Are you free today? Maybe we can hang out? If that's alright with you, that is. 'Fluttershy wants to hang out with me? But I have to go to the job.' Sunset: Sorry, Fluttershy. I have to go to my job I told you about. Maybe we can hang out after my shift is over? Fluttershy: Oh, I forgot. I was hoping to hang out with you at the Animal Shelter. Maybe we can meet for lunch? I still don't know where you stay yet. Sunset: I'll tell you, Fluttershy. And yeah, let's meet for lunch. I'll let you know then. After getting on a bus, and waiting through the stop, she arrived at the mall. Sunset made her way to the sushi restaurant. Going inside and getting her uniform from her boss and a quick rundown on her shift, she was given ten minutes to get ready. After dressing up, she began her work. She didn't do much, other than taking orders from the customers and clearing the tables for the next group. It was the first time she wore a kimono, and it took her a while to get used to walking on the pair of geta*. Before she knew it, her shift ended, and it was time for her to leave. She ordered a Vegi-Sushi to go and left when it was handed over. She sent the time and place to meet Fluttershy earlier. She made it to the park and choose a place where she could talk with Fluttershy privately. Before long, Fluttershy arrived at the park, and Sunset waved to from where she was sitting. Fluttershy took a seat in front of Sunset. "Hey, Fluttershy. Here, I uh... I brought some Vegi-Sushi." Sunset said, offering the Sushi she brought. "Oh! Why thank you, Sunset." Fluttershy said. "So… can you tell me where you stay?" She asked. "Um… yeah, but… you gotta keep this a secret. Can you promise that?" Sunset asked. "I pinkie promise." Sunset stuck out her pinkie finger while Fluttershy went to make the motions for Pinkie's version. They both paused awkwardly when they went to do different things. After a moment of silence, Fluttershy began to explain. "It's Pinkie's thing. Once you make a pinkie promise, you can never break it." "Okaaay… ahem… after the fall formal, Vice-Principal Luna made me, Snips and Snails to clean the wall. Snips and Snails snuck out while I stayed behind. After everyone left, Principal Celestia came to me and asked me If I want a ride home. But I didn't want her to know where I stayed. So, I lied to her and told her it wasn't too far and that I'd be fine by myself. She probably saw through it," Sunset began. "Then, on Wednesday, she called me to her office and asked about my living conditions. I guess Princess Twilight told her about my circumstances and that I was from that other world. I lied again to her, saying I sold some stuff from my world, That I used the money from it to buy an apartment and that I have a job. Though that last one wasn't quite a lie. Anyways, she said she's going to look into my 'apartment' and make sure they were up to her standards. I didn't think she was going to do that the same day. She came to me once the school is over and asked to take her to my apartment. Because she checked out my living arrangement that day, I wasn't prepared for it. She figured out pretty quickly that I don't have an actual place to live. So she took me in." "Wait, Principal Celestia took you in? So, she adopted you?" Fluttershy asked in astonishment. 'Adopt? Will she- no, don't think about that. It didn't happen before. Who's to say it will happen now? They are the same person.' "Uh- N-no, She didn't. She said until they figure out something, I'm going to live with them." Sunset said. "Oh… okay…" Fluttershy said. They then began to eat their lunch in silence, an uncomfortable silence. Then after they were almost finished eating, Fluttershy talked again. "Um Sunset… can I ask you something?" "Yeah?" "W-when Rainbow said… the rainbow wave only lasted few seconds… you looked surprised. Why is that? I-If you don't mind me asking." "No, it's okay. I knew I was going to have to tell you sooner or later. When you guys hit me with the elements, I think I passed out. When I woke up in this... this black void. When I looked around, it was just dark, a nothingness. That was when I saw a light. I couldn't see where the light was coming from. That's when I began to think about what happened. I remembered you guy praising Princess Twilight, I remember the feeling it gave me, I remember the anger. Then I felt a sharp pain in my head, and then I began to see things. The t-things I d-did." Sunset said, holding back tears. "A-all the horrible thing I d-did to everyone, not just people but ponies too. But in the other person's perspective while also feeling what they felt. I was being tormented by myself. It was awful. F-Fluttershy… I-it was very painful. I thought I'm going to die. Fluttershy… I-I know how you felt when I bullied you. I know how you felt when I broke your friends apart. S-so let me ask y-you something. W-why did you really want to b-be friends with me. I-it's not just because of the P-Princess, r-right? Or was it because you thought I could be good?" Sunset said, tears falling down her eyes. "Um… a-actually… t-there is something. But you need to tell me everything that the rainbow wave did to you first," Fluttershy said, turning red. "Um… that's about it. After my visions ended at the fall formal, I passed out and woke up in that crater. I've had these horrible nightmares where it begins at the fall formal, and I end up reliving the black void with the light. Without those visions and pains but, there's something…" Sunset stopped thinking about the last part. "What?" "Um… the second time I went into that void in my dreams, I tried to reach the light but, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get an inch closer to that. But I've noticed that it keeps getting closer to me after every dream. I just wake up closer to it than before." "Um… that's strange. But I've heard that dreams can actually say things about someone. Maybe, you are getting closer to the light because you turning good now. You made friends now." Fluttershy said. "I don't know," Sunset said. "Your turn. Tell me, why did you really want to be friends with me?" "Um… right… that..." Fluttershy said, looking away. She had a slight tint of red in her face. "Um… uh… the promise for the Princess and m-my idea to help you to be good aren't the only reasons. Um… the other reason is… um… I…" "You…" Sunset prompted Fluttershy to say. "Um… I… I l-liked you?" Sunset chocked on her food. "Cough- cough- sorry, what did you say?" "Um… I said… I lik-," "Oh, hey, Guys, fancy meeting ya here." Fluttershy got interrupted by Applejack, suddenly appearing out of nowhere. "Eyeep!" "Oh! A-Applejack, hi." Sunset said. "I'm not interrupting something, am I?" She asked. "Uh- n-no, of course not… we are just having lunch together, nothing else, right Fluttershy?" Sunset quickly said with a forced smile on her face. "Y-yeah, t-that's all." Fluttershy quickly said. "Uh-huh." Applejack said with a smile, arms crossed. "Well, since I'm free for the rest of the day… I was wondering if we can hang out for a while. I'd like to get to know you, Sunset Shimmer. If you two don't have any plans for the rest of the day." "Uh- yeah, maybe. What do you say, Sunset?" Fluttershy asked. "Sounds good to me?" Sunset said uncertainly. "Okay, then. You two finish up here. I'll be right back," Applejack said before quickly getting out of view.