//------------------------------// // Fourteen: Searching // Story: Her Broken Childhood // by girasol //------------------------------// Sunset gasped, desperately trying to break free from whoever was holding her. “Hold still you little runt!” That voice... she knows who that voice belonged to. She had just meet her with the other girl. The realization made Sunset whimper, trying even harder to break free. “Shut up!” Gilda growled, shaking the girl, “Shut up!” Gilda covered Sunset’s mouth with her hand and lifted the small girl off her feet, which only made her fidget even more. Gilda quickly and quietly opened to door to the school yard. Once she was outside, she slowly closed the door and pulled out her phone. After a couple of seconds, she turned back to Sunset and smirked, “That was easier than I thought it would be. I can’t believe you actually fell for that!” Gilda howled. Sunset whimpered, resulting in the towering girl tightening her grip on her even more. “Oh quit your whining! Just shut up already!” Gilda gripped Sunset’s tear streaked face, “Why are you so young anyway? And what the hell happened to your arms an’ your face?” Sunset sniffled, trying to make the teen let go of her. “Hey! I thought I told you to stay still!” Gilda roared, slapping Sunset hard in the face. Rainbow growled, trying not to let Lighting Dust see her annoyance, “Shut up Lighting! At least I don’t risk anyone’s life just to impress Coach!” Lightning smirked, “Sure Rainboo.” Rarity put a hand to her fiends shoulder, “Rainbow Dash, let’s just walk away. She only wants to get a reaction out of you.” “Yeah, Rainy, listen to— Wait, never mind, I forgot you guys aren’t friends anymore. Not after that little scandal between the five of you freshman year.” Rainbow clenched her fists, “That’s it!” Rainbow charged towards Lighting, only to stop when Lighting suddenly put a hand up, smirking. Lighting Dust pulled out her phone and her smirk increased, “Anyways, see you later Rainbow Crash!” Rainbow watched in disgust as her old friend left the scene, “Ugh.” “Don’t worry darling,” Rarity reassured, “Just let it be.” Rainbow nodded and turned around, “Sorry about that Sun—“ Rainbow stopped, surprised to not see the red haired girl was no longer with them, “Sunset?” Both teenagers anxiously glanced around the hall, hoping to see some sign of the missing girl. Rainbow began to panic. No, no, no no no! Twilight told us to watch her... “Sunset!” Rainbow called out, her worry increasing as her mind wandered to where the young girl might have gone. She picked up Sunset’s brown backpack, wondering why it was just left there. She wouldn’t have just left her backpack here... Rainbow glanced at Rarity, was also starting to panic, “I’ll go find her!” She handed the bag to her, “Just... stay here in case she comes back!” And to tell Twilight... Twilight walked into Principal Celestia’s office once more. She still felt as intimidated as the first time she walked into the room. “Twilight,” Principal Celestia began, “Is everything alright?” Twilight nodded, not really wanting to talk about the scene in the library, “Is her stuff ready?” Vice Principal Luna handed the purple girl a decently sized brown box, “This was all the stuff in her locker.” Twilight accepted the box and opened it up. The first thing she saw was the brown journal with a red and golden sun embedded on the front. This has to be Sunset’s copy of the journal that’s shared with Princess Celestia. She opened the book, flipping to the first page. Yep. No doubt about it. She closed the box and nodded, “Thank you,” she turned, already reaching for the doorknob. “Hold on Twilight,” Principal Celestia said, stopping the teenager, “My sister and I ran her documents and we found that they are in fact fake. The signatures are forged and her address is also a fake.” Twilight turned around, “Where does the address lead to?” “An old restaurant,” Vice Principal Luna informed her. Twilight sucked in a breath, “She probably was living on the streets.” “If you’d like,” Vice Principal Luna began, “I could take you to that address, I have a feeling I know where she resided.” Twilight nodded and the Vice Principal continued, “Tomorrow at eleven a good time?” Twilight bit her lip, thinking about how Sunset reacted when she would depart from her, “Um... Yes, that would be alright,” Twilight finally said. She knew that Sunset would react, but it was important. Princess Celestia would want to know where and how her student had adapted to a foreign world. Luna nodded, jotting the date and time in her planner, “Alright, where would you like to meet?” Twilight thought for a moment, “I’ll probably be at Rarity’s.” Luna nodded, jotting the information down, “See you there Ms. Sparkle.” Twilight nodded and headed out the door. Twilight was confused when she noticed Rarity, looking very apprehensive, waiting for her right by the door, “Rarity what’s the matter?” Twilight turned to her right, expecting to see Sunset where she was standing before she went inside, “Where’s Sunset?” Rarity bit her lip and took a deep breath... “Sunset!” Rainbow called out, cupping her hands around her mouth as she walked down the hall. Rainbow rounded the corner, anxiously stuffing her hands in her pockets. As she walked further into the hall her anxiety increased. She had hoped that Sunset was just around the corner, but she wasn’t. She turned to the right towards the dark hallway. She quickly glanced around the room. When there was no sigh of the missing girl, Rainbow groaned, putting her hands to her head in frustration. Just as she was going to turn around, she kicked something with her foot. Frowning, she picked up the mysterious object. She gasped as she realized it was the fiery-haired girl’s beloved Phoenix plush. “Sunset!” Rainbow called once more as she shakily felt a rope attached to the toy. As if on cue, Rainbow heard a wail coming from down the hall. She raced down to where she heard the sound without a second thought. Rainbow charged at the door at the end of the hallway that lead to the school yard, “Sunset!” She called again once she got into the yard. “Rainbow!” The panicked teen whipped her head around at the sound of her name, knowing who that voice was coming from. Rainbow gasped in horror when she finally turned around and found the small child being firmly held in Gilda’s grasp. Sunset seemed to be desperately trying to break free but due to the older teen’s size and strength, she wasn’t doing much but looking like a squirming duckling. Rainbow stormed towards the taller teen, “Let her go!” “Not so fast Rainbow,” Gilda simpered, “Take one more step and just watch what happens.” Rainbow halted, not wanting to risk Sunset getting hurt, “Come on Gilda! Don’t do anything you’ll regret! Let her go and I—“ Gilda smirked, “Nah, I don’t think so. I think this little brat is finally gonna get some payback,” then with a sinister smile, she looked down at Sunset and gripped the side of the girl’s face, “Ain’t that right Sunset.” The trembling Sunset let out a whimper, frozen in fear at the way the bully said her name. “Gilda just leave her alone! She didn’t do anything—“ “Oh she didn’t do anything? Let me take you back to last week: The Fall Formal. You really think she didn’t do anything?!” Gilda huffed, tightening her grip on the younger girl. “She’s just a kid Gilda!” Rainbow shouted, “Just let her go and—“ Gilda’s smirk grew. She leered at Sunset, “By the way, what’s up with her face n’ arms? I don’t think I’ve ever seen something like that!” She snickered, “She looks like a freak!” Sunset whimpered again, louder this time. Gilda cupped her hand around her mouth and laughed when the girl began to cry. Rainbow felt steam come out of her ears as her vision became infused with red. Without thinking, she lunged at the bully like a bull. Gilda finally released her grip on Sunset as both she and her former friend came tumbling to the ground. “I told you! Let. Her. Go!” Rainbow roared, pushing her further into the ground with each emphasis. Gilda scoffed as she drove a punch to the right side of Rainbow’s jaw, making her turn sideways at the momentum. Rainbow growled and returned the punch to Gilda’s left eye. Gilda quickly recovered and narrowed her eyes in a menacing glare. She kicked Rainbow on her side, making her land sideways on the gravel floor. But then, to Rainbow’s surprise, Gilda quickly stood up and vanished around the back alleyway of the school. Rainbow stood up and dusted herself of the dirt on her clothes. She stared at the back alleyway for a second, perplexed on why Gilda gave up on the fight so easily. A whimper coming from behind her broke her of her thoughts. Rainbow turned around to find Sunset huddled up into a ball against the wall with her face buried in her hands. Rainbow sighed, her heart shattering a little as she heard the girl’s ongoing cries. She picked up the Phoenix plush from off the ground, dusted it off and untied the tight knot. She stepped closer to the crying child, “Hey, Sunset?” The girl didn’t answer her, she kept on sniffing as if the rainbow haired teen hadn’t even spoken. Rainbow took a deep breath, trying to remember what Twilight would do in this situation, “Sunset. It’s Rainbow Dash. ‘Member me? I...” she sighed, wanting to give up on this situation. She glanced at her hand which contained the girl’s toy, “Sunset, look who’s here for you.” This time, the girl looked up, “Fiyero!” She cried out as she reached out for her comfort toy. Rainbow handed the toy to the girl. Sunset closed her eyes and held it tightly to her chest. Rainbow took a deep breath, “Are you okay?” Sunset sniffled, “That girl... she got me... she-she made me follow her and she got me,” the younger girl whimpered again as new tears began spilling out of the corners of her eyes, “I thought I w-was n-never going to see Twilight again.” Rainbow, without another thought, hugged the crying girl. I swear next time I see her... Imma... “I’m sorry. This is my fault. I should’ve been watching you.” Sunset stopped sniffling to look up at the sporty teen. Rainbow continued, “I’m not gonna let this happen again, okay? I’ll protect ya.” Sunset nodded, as she returned Rainbows hug. Rainbow cleared her throat, wiping away the strange tears that formed in the corner of her eyes, “Well, we should get back to Twilight.” Sunset nodded as they broke apart their hug and stood up from the floor. Before Rainbow could walk away, Sunset looked up at her, “Rainbow?” Rainbow turned to the younger girl. Sunset slowly clasped her hands on the blue girl’s arms, hoping she knew what she wanted. Rainbow’s eyes widened in realization. She wants me to carry her? Shocked, Rainbow blinked a couple of times, not really knowing how to answer the waiting Sunset, “Okay...” She finally said as she extended her arms. Sunset smiled and leaped into Rainbow’s embrace. Rainbow cautiously picked her up. Okay... never carried a kid before. Gotta take this slow... Sunset placed her head on Rainbow’s blue shoulder, making the sporty girl smile. “What?!” Twilight shouted, “What do you mean she was gone?” “Rainbow Dash is out looking for her outside,” Rarity told her, hoping it would ease the tension. Twilight began to panic, “Okay... Stay calm,” she told herself, “Stay calm... okay...” Twilight took a deep breath, “I’ll go check the gym, Rarity you check upstairs—“ “I’ll go check the front of the school,” Principal Celestia said, already heading that way. “And I’ll look in the cafeteria,” Vice Principal Luna said, leaving the scene. Rarity dashed off up the stairs while Twilight ran down the hall calling the girl’s name. “Sunset!” Twilight called, starting to grow desperate, “Sunset! Where are you?” Oh please for the love of Celestia... please help us find her. She quickly rounded the corners of the hallway, desperately trying to locate the lost girl. Just as she was about to turn another corner, the door at the end of the hallway opened up to reveal Rainbow Dash carrying Sunset in her arms. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief as she raced towards Rainbow, “Sunset!” Rainbow gently put Sunset down on the floor but the sniffling girl would not look at Twilight in the eyes. “Sunset! Oh my gosh!” Twilight began, bringing the girl in a tight embrace. She quickly broke it, held the girl’s shoulders, and looked directly at the smaller girl eyes, “You scared me to death! I told you to stay with the girls! Why did you leave them Sunset?” Sunset sniffled again as new tears began spilling out of her bloodshot eyes. She felt Twilight’s gaze but had yet to meet them. “Um...” Rainbow began, trying to get Twilight’s attention. Twilight glanced up at Rainbow Dash, who gave her a solemn look. Twilight gasped as she noticed the bruise on the left side of her friend’s jaw, “Rainbow... what happened to your—“ Rainbow looked away, swiping at her jaw as if the bruise would go away, “I’ll uh... tell you later.” Confused, the purple teen turned back to look at the younger girl, who had her downtrend eyes still locked to the floor. “Sunset,” Twilight said softly, finally noticing the dry tears on the girl’s amber cheeks, “I—“ “A-are you m-mad at me?” Sunset asked quietly, slowly meeting Twilight’s eyes. Twilight blinked a couple of times. Is she mad at her? She was so scared that something bad had happened to her to even think about that. Twilight stared at the child in front of her. Sunset looked scared, she was visibly trembling, her lip was even quivering a little. Twilight took a deep breath, “No, no I’m not mad at you—“ “But I disobeyed you...” “Well that may be but—“ “You’re gonna send me away now...” Sunset whimpered out, tears still spilling out from her eyes. Twilight shook her head, “Sunset, I’ll never do that,” Sunset sniffled, bringing her eyes back to the floor. Twilight put a hand under the girl’s chin, “Honey, I’m not mad at you. And I’m not going to send you away.” “P-promise?” Sunset sniffled out. Twilight embraced the child, “Promise. Oh sweetheart,” Twilight said gently, stroking the girl’s hair, “I could never send you away,” Twilight tightened her embrace before letting go, “Come on, we should get back to everyone.”