After morning classes, Sunset walked down to her locker to put away her books. Then she noticed the old red marks on her locker again. She sighed sadly. She and her friends managed to clean it up, but one message still remained, written in the edge of the locker:
You She-Demon. U deserve pain 4 the rest of ur life!
If only they knew her pain..
Shaking her head, she put down her books and took new ones, then went to the cafeteria to meet her friends.
She met Rainbow Dash at the cafeteria doors, saying, " Hi, Dash."
"Hi! Come quick, I want to try that new type of juice Granny Smith made."
Both of them rushed to the lunch queue and took trays. Sunset took a vegeterian meal with a cup of strawberry yogurt while Rainbow took a glass of juice and a sandwich. Together, they both went to the Rainboom"s usual spot, where Sci-Twi, Applejack, Fluttershy ,Rarity and Pinkie Pie were already sitting.
"Finally! What took ya'll so long?"
"Sorry, the lunch queue was really long."
All of them sat down to eat. Fluttershy then said in a soft voice, "I can't believe its the last day of school this Friday..."
"Uh huh, me and the Apples are gonna have a nice, relaxin' holiday with the whole family!" Applejack said excitedly." We'll make the house look nice'n toasty on Christmas Eve! And-"
"We get it, Applejack." Rainbow replied. "I caan't wait till the end of school. Sci-Twi will probably flip, though." She gave a cheeky grin to the lavender-skinned scientist, who had flushed with embarrasment while everyone at the table laughed.
"For your information, Rainbow, I have quite a lot of assignments to complete and card to give to the teachers!" She huffed. " I hope I can finish them all early this year! Then I'll get to spend time with Timber!" She grinned.
"Speaking of Timber, He's probably going to spend the holidays with his family, Darling." said Rarity. " And we better get a move on, you do realize there's only 15 minutes left of the lunch break?"
"Oh, shoot!"
All of the girls quickly ate to get to their next classes. Sunset, however, frowned slightly. Hearing her friends talk about their families caused a sinking feeling in her stomach when she was reminded of her family, and what had happened to them...
And how it was all her fault..
Don't think about that, She told herself.That was a long time ago. No need to fell envy, your family are your friends, now.
Yes, she thought, no need to bring up her past...
She took up her books and left for her next class along with Fluttershy.
Later, after school, the girls met at their usual spot, at the horse statue in front of Canterlot High.
"That last minute pop quiz was sooo annoying!" Rainbow whined. " I can't believe I got an C!"
"Atleast you got a C, Rainbow." Sunset grinned at her friend. She then looked at all the girls, " What are you guys going to do in the holidays?"
"Oh, Ooh!!!" Pinkie said. "Lemme start! Ok, so, me and Maud are going to make necklaces out of rocks and then decorate them around the house! Then, I'll throw a super-big Christmas party with our whole family!"
"That truly sounds like fun, darling." said Rarity with a smile. " I will be spending the holidays with my parents and Sweetie Belle, and my father said he'll be catering a special dinner for us at Christmas Eve! Oooh!, It shall be amazing!" She gushed.
"Wow, Rarity, that sounds really fancy." Fluttershy murmered. " I will be with Zephyr and our aunt and uncle are coming to visit, since Mum and Dad might be busy. All the animals are safe in the shelter, however." She smiled.
"That sounds really nice! But me and my parents are going to Aunt Cadence's House for Christmas." Sci-Twi said. "I still can't believe Shining Armor fell in love with my old dean! But still, we all are going to spend the holidays together. I don't really know if we're going to have anything special on Christmas Eve, but I do know that I'll be waking everybody at 2:00 am, ha ha!" She gave a sly smirk. " It's so fun, ripping up paper at the dead of the night!"
"Ouch! Although I love waking up at 2:00 am and opening presents" Rainbow said, " But me and my parents are going to be alone at home. However, We put a lot of snowmen in out backyard in celebration of the holidays! It kind of looks as if a gang of people with carrot noses and button eyes are spying on us in the dead of the night". She laughed.
"Well, Ah already told ya'll that me and my family are goin' to have our annual Christmas Party!" Applejack grinned. " We'll be makin' a lot of dishes, and me and Apple Bloom are goin' to decorate the house in Christmas colors!" She whooped.
Everyone looked at Sunset, who had remained silent during this scenario. with a small smile on her lips. Now, however, she looked at her friends with an eyebrow raised. "What are you guys looking at me for?"
"What are you gonna do, Sunny?" asked Pinkie. "Are you gonna..make a huge cake for the holidays? Or light some candles? Or-"
"How about we let Sunset tell us?" Rainbow interrupted, grinning.
"Well, I'll probably just o to a nearby park and spend the day there. I never really spend time on the holidays anyway-"
"WHAT!??!" Pinkie interrupted, aghast. She wasn't the only one. Applejack looked lost for words.
Sunset sighed. She was wishing to avoid this topic, but here goes. "Pinkie, My-my family are in Equestria. I've had nobody to celebrate the holidays anyway." She looked down at her feet. She didn't want to tell about her parents. Not now!
Her friends kept quiet. They didn't know what had happened between Sunset and her family, but they kept quiet, since it must be a painful topic for her.
"So... you never had anyone to celebrate with? I thought you had somebody! Last year-"
"Last year I lied." Sunset broke off Rainbow. " I didn't wanna tell you girls. Sorry about that."
"Don't you have any type of holiday out in your world?" Applejack asked.
"Actually we do. It's called Heart's Warming Eve. Kind of like Christmas mixed with Independence Day. It started like this.."
And Sunset told them about the Windigos; About Heart's Warming Eve; and about how it gave birth to Equestria.
"Wow." Rarity said softly as Sunset finished. "That sounds beautiful."
"Me and my-my family didn't really.. celebrate it that much. Maybe we did, but I just can't remember....: She trailed off looking lost. Then she said, "But no matter. I've got you guys now!" She smiled, then said, "I've gotta go then. Bye girls!"
She went down the pathway next to Canterlot High.
"..." Applejack was speechless. Celebrating the holidays with nobody must be some sort of crime! If only she-
Then a lightbulb popped up.
"Girls! I just had an amazing idea...."