/x/ Earlier… /x/
When Rarity awakens, she asserts that today is going to be a good day. Opalescence is snuggled up right between her legs; through her window the sun looks bright for the first time in a long while; the drama of the previous couple of days had long since melted away in the wake of the plans of those following. Nothing can possibly go wrong today. A delicious breakfast, a delightful jaunt to the mall, and then afterwards surely an equally delicious bowl of revenge were sure to arrive soon. All she has to do is be patient. Although given by her stomach screaming at her to fill it with sustenance, perhaps that first one can stand to spare the patience.
She carefully maneuvers her legs around the cat, who hisses in protest before darting away, taking half the blankets with her. Rarity chuckles in spite of herself before making her way fully out of the bed and to the door. The moment she opens it a sliver, Opal darts through and down the hall.
The sound and smell of cooking bacon fills the air, carrying Rarity aloft as she drifts down the hall and into the kitchen.
“Rarity?” Belle asks, keeping her eyes focused on the bacon and toast.
“It’s me,” she says, sidling over. “This smells divine.”
“I put some vanilla and cinnamon in the egg wash like you said.”
“I have to say, this is one of the best things I’ve ever woken up to.”
“Hey, it was your idea. Oh, uh, I didn’t get started on the whor- uh, sorry, the um. Promiscuous eggs. Or the berries. But I have the potatoes defrosting in the oven.”
“I can take care of those while you get these.” Rarity opens the fridge and begins to pull ingredients out, setting them on the island. “I presume Loo is still asleep?”
“Yeah. I think. She’s gonna shower soon.” She flips the piece of toast over. “I already did last night, to give her more time in the morning.”
“Well that was nice of you.” Rarity sniffs the air. “Hey, you didn’t burn anything this time.”
“Oh come on, I was a kid when that happened, you can’t still be bringing that up!”
“You burned. The juice.”
“And that’s why I didn’t touch the berries.”
She chuckles a bit at this as she heads to the sink to wash her hands. “Are you ready for our excursion today?”
“Yeah…” Belle prods at the bacon. “It’ll be nice to have one last big hangout together.”
“You say that as if it’s going to be our last one ever.”
“I mean. Before school starts up again. We probably won’t get a chance again until summer.”
“I doubt I’m leaving the country for spring break again. And even so, there are weekends. Lots of weekends…” she sighs. “I have a lot of free time now. I can focus on my work. My savings account has just been collecting interest for months now. Perhaps it’s time I make a purchase. There’s an embroidery machine I’ve had my eyes on that I may just get today.”
“That’s the one you’ve been talking about since last Hearth’s Warming, isn’t it?” Belle asks, soaking a new slice of bread. “The one that’s like three thousand dollars?”
“It is indeed. I’ve been putting every spare penny I have into it. I would have had enough by the Fall Formal, had the whole Twilight situation not occurred. Which of course, I’m glad happened. But… it may as well not have happened. So I might as well do something nice for myself, yes?”
“You do deserve it.” Ding! “Potatoes are probably fine by now.”
As Rarity pulls them out of the oven, Sweetie Belle can’t help but feel the sting of her sister’s melancholic admission. Because after all, she’s right. Before Twilight, Rarity didn’t exactly have many positive relationships of value with anybody. Sunset had made sure of that. And after Twilight had left, things were great! She had an entire network of friends… Until this weekend. And whose fault is that, exactly?
“These should honestly cool down for a while. And the berries should be room temperature.”
“Oh? Sorry, Rare, I didn’t know.”
“It’s fine, dear, we’re in no rush. The bacon isn’t done yet, so we can’t start the potatoes anyway. And the eggs are much better fresh. So this will work out perfectly.”
“Alright…” she purses her lips. “Actually, do you have a second?”
“For what?”
“I left my phone to charge in the bedroom. Would you mind grabbing it for me?”
“Expecting a call?”
“Nah. I just wanna put on a video or something. This is a lot more boring than I expected it to be.”
“Sure. You’re doing the bulk of the work, after all. Perhaps I’ll even see if Loo is awake.”
“It’ll be on MY side of the bed,” she emphasizes, with a bit more urgency than she intended.
“But of course it would be, silly,” Rarity teases. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
“I… just making sure you don’t grab the wrong one.”
“Oh please, I think I’m intelligent enough to determine which one is yours and which one is hers, yes? Besides, the worst that happens is I go back in and swap them out.”
“I know, but you know how protective Scoots is about her privacy.”
“Of course, and I would never violate that. You forget the only person more protective over their phone is moi~”
“You say, when you don’t even have a passcode.”
“One does not need a passcode amongst trustworthy company.” Rarity suddenly frowns. “Although. Perhaps one would have saved me from the torrent of embarrassment Sunset has brought me. But then again, she isn’t exactly what I would call trustworthy. Not like Applejack, or Fluttershy, or… or you.”
Before Belle can fully internalize the second sting of the morning, she notices that their parents have entered the kitchen as well.
“Love the smell o’ bacon in the morning,” Hondo grumbles, heading to the coffee maker. “You better be savin’ me a dozen pieces. At least.”
“Dear, you are not eating a dozen pieces of bacon. Your heart-“
“Ah, my heart’s fine. It’s my stomach I’m worried about.”
“You have two ulcers!” Cookie cries.
“It’s fine, I’ll just have some tums.” He sniffs the potatoes. “These ain’t done yet.”
“We’re going to cook them in bacon grease,” Rarity supplies. “And when the blackberries are ready, I’ll make syrup from them.”
“Mmmmm, nice,” he nods sagely as he leans against the counter. “I gotta say, you two girls are gonna make some men really happy someday, cookin’ the way you do. Just like Bow’s lady.”
“Yes, Windy‘s cooking is delightful…” Rarity murmurs to herself. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment, Belle had just asked me to fetch her phone.”
“Yeah sure, just don’t take too long. This is some prime breakfast if I ever seen some.”
Rarity nods as she steps out of the kitchen, striding through the living room and down the hall. As she approaches the bedroom, something heavy lodges itself in her stomach. She rubs at it for a moment, and takes a brief moment to step into the bathroom. She is torn between sitting on the toilet and continuing to rub, briefly wondering what she ate to cause such a weird and sudden bout of discomfort. Finding no answers, she steps back out and continues on her way to her sisters’ room.
Slowly pushing the door in, she peeks inside to ensure that there isn’t anyone indecent inside. Finding the room empty, she fully steps in and walks over to the bed. There are three phones sitting on the table nearest the door.
“Inconvenient,” she sighs, not pausing to wonder why, if privacy was so important to Loo, she would leave her phone on Belle’s side of the bed. “Which one was hers again…?”
Rarity picks up one of them and swipes a finger on the screen. An image of all three of the kids shows up, which narrows down the possibilities by exactly zero. She swipes it open but finds that it is passcode-locked. She huffs and sets it back down.
“Process of elimination it is.” She mutters, reaching for another one. She swipes this one, but it shows only Belle and Scootaloo. It is the same photo, but this one is zoomed in just a bit further to crop Bloom out of the photo for some reason. Strange. Same deal with this one security-wise, also locked by a passcode.
She narrows her eyes as she sets it down, puzzling over this predicament. She couldn’t exactly bring all of them over and ask Belle which was hers. Well, she COULD do that, but would have rather avoided the mild embarrassment that could result. And then she glanced at the third device. The… awfully familiar third device.
The awfully familiar third device that she knew for a fact did not belong to anyone in the house.
The awfully familiar third device that… should not be here.
“Pah. Surely not,” she says with an eye roll. “There’s no way.”
And yet. There it was.
“Right?”
Rarity reaches down for it as time around her slows, freezing to a standstill. Her heart beats in her chest, seeming to slam its way up into her throat. She desperately wills herself to be wrong, feeling acid adrenaline drip from her veins and frosted ice form on her spine. Her trembling hand brushes against the silicone gel case that she held just a handful of weeks ago. So long ago it seems.
“No…” she whispers, voice fragile and delicate as porcelain. She wraps her fingers around and slowly pulls it upwards as she hears the bathroom door open behind her. She turns the phone over, and the act causes the screen to automatically light up. The lock screen consists of a selfie taken by Sunset ‘Bitch Queen’ Shimmer herself, surrounded by all of their friends. In fact, there Rarity was, right in the thick of it. Her vision blurs as heat rises on her underarms, knuckles, and stomach. She swipes it open, passcode-free, and is met with a different photo, this one of a tear-stricken but slightly smiling Sunset Shimmer standing next to the beaming Princess Twilight Sparkle.
This is Sunset’s phone.
But why…?
“Oh, my GOD Rarity,” Scootaloo yelps from behind her. “I did not know you were there, you just gave me a heart attack!”
Rarity turns her head to the side just enough to catch sight of the younger girl in her periphery. She is scrambling to cover herself with her towel, heeding this task much more so than whatever the reason for her scare turned out to be.
“God, just, please knock next time or something so I know you’re in here, I just about gave you a facefull of titty.” She finally gets the knot ready and tightens it against her chest. “Why are you even in here in the first place?”
Rarity then takes a slow and dramatic swivel around as she deliberately brings the phone into full view, purposefully showing the screen side forward. She fights the bile rising in her throat as a contemptuous glare forces its way on her face. Her free fist clenches as she slowly turns her head down.
“What is this?” She hisses, teeth grit, lips curling into a snarl as Scootaloo’s face falls.
“I… it’s… I…” she sputters and fights for a cohesive sentence that refuses to be spoken. Her stomach falls into her knees as she takes a step backwards. Rarity steps towards her.
“Why… the bloody hell… do you have Sunset Shimmer’s cell phone?” She snarls, her typical manner of speech gone completely by the wayside. Instead, she is growling in the manner of a starving tigress staring down its prey.
Scoot’s eyes widen, her shoulders hunch as she retreats into a smaller version of herself, a tortoise seeking the safety of its shell. But no shell can protect her from the pure blind furious rage pouring from Rarity’s body. Her breathing speeds up and grows shallow as her back collides with the wall. Still, Rarity is advancing.
“I swear to Faust, Scootaloo, if you don’t have a very good explanation for this in five seconds, I am GOING to lose my temper with you. And neither of us want that to happen. One.”
“Rarity, I-“
“Two.”
“I don’t know what-“
“Two and a half.”
“It isn’t mine!”
“I KNOW IT’S NOT YOURS!” Rarity roars.
“Please don’t yell-“
Rarity whiris on her heel and storms out of the room, slamming her shoulder into the door and bashing a hole in the wall with the knob.
“Rare!”
She stomps through the house on her way to the kitchen, where she meets Belle- darting out of the kitchen- halfway.
“I can explain!” She cries, still holding onto the spatula and tongs.
“Do it,” Rarity whispers, voice barely above a whisper. “Give me an explanation right. Now. Why do you two have Sunset’s phone?”
“The hell’s going on?” Hondo growls, joining the fray. “Why are you stomping and screaming?”
“Really!” Cookie adds, following him out. “There’s no reason for that level of activity this early.”
“This is Sunset Shimmer’s phone!” Rarity explains through tears. “And it’s here! In their bedroom! WHY?”
“I. I just stole it yesterday,” Scootaloo says, catching up. “Out of her apartment! I noticed she forgot it the other day, at Fluttershy’s! So I went to get it while I was…”
“How did you notice she forgot it?”
“I, she, I, uh,” she sputters, frantically formulating her way out of this one. Inwardly she kicks herself for not bringing the phones into the bathroom with her. How could she make such a stupid fuckup?
“And you lied to me about getting “fresh air” too, another lie to add to the pile.”
“Yeah, I… I was. I was scared. And-“
“Scared? From whom did you have to fear?”
“Sunset was… I was…” Scootaloo shook her head. “I just wanted to make sure she couldn’t post anymore.”
Rarity then dropped her arms as she gasped.
“If you stole it yesterday evening, then the one who outed Rainbow Dash last night…”
Scootaloo takes a step back as the full brunt of the discovery hits her like a sledgehammer to the chest.
“It was you.” Rarity takes a step forward. “This whole time. Right in plain sight. It was YOU.” She felt her fists ball up as her cheeks soaked. “You slimy, disgusting, conniving little BITCH.”
“What the hell is happening here!?” Hondo yells. “Rarity, what are you yelling about? What did she do? What happened?”
“She’s Anon a Miss!” Rarity cries, falling to her knees. “She spread the rumors about me, about all of us! She posted all of those horrible horrible things! She! SHE!” She loses her balance and collapses to the ground, hyperventilating.
As Cookie rushes to her fallen daughter’s side, Belle and Scootaloo both merely stand frozen in place.
A dark look crosses Hondo’s face as he glowers.
“What did you do?” He snarls. “What did you do to my daughter?”
“I… I… I…” Scootaloo looks around the room, desperate to find something, anything, but there is no savior to be found. There is no way out. She locks eyes with Belle, and makes a decision before glaring. “You.”
“Scoot…?“
“You moved the phones to your side of the bed on purpose to get me caught,” she accuses, taking a step forward. “Didn’t you?”
“Don’t speak to her,” Hondo growls, stepping in front of her. “I asked you a question. What. The hell. Did you do. To my kids.”
“You wouldn’t understand,” she snaps.
He clenched his fists before turning to face his youngest, getting down on one knee before softening his voice. “Baby doll,” he says, putting his hand on her cheek. “What’s going on?”
Belle sniffs. “It’s now, Scoots,” she whispers. “You have to start fixing it right now. You have to come clean. I have to…” she blinks away the tears before turning her attention back to her father. “We- Scoots and Bloom and I- we framed Sunset for spreading rumors and sharing secrets.”
“Why?” He asks, not understanding. “Why did… what did…” he turns back around to look at Scootaloo. “You…?”
Rarity continues to wail in horror, no longer making cohesive noises. Cookie turns to glare at the interloper.
“Get out.” She says, voice plain. “Pack your things. Put some damn clothes on. And get out of this house.”
“But-“
In an instant Cookie is on her feet, and grabs the girl by the throat, pressing her against the wall. Not hard enough to hurt, or cause any damage, or even impact her ability to breathe. But enough to make an impression. “After everything I have done for you… all these years I’ve treated you like one of my own. And you pay back our hospitality with this vile betrayal, these lies, this… Get out.” She lets go and points across the room at the door. “You get out. And you stay out.”
Hondo scoops Rarity from the floor, bridal style, and pulls her away from this abominable outsider he could no longer recognize. Rarity falls silent, spent, and passes out. The phone slips from her fingers and falls to the ground as he carries her out of the room.
“Where will I go?” Scoot asks, voice small as ever.
“Hell,” Cookie spits. “That’s where you can go. You lied to me. You lied to my daughter. You lied to every single person at school. You spread lewd photographs of a minor! Of my baby! You make me sick to even breathe the same air as you. Consider yourself lucky that I don’t hospitalize you. That is the extent of my mercy. You pack your things, and you never speak to any of us again.” She turns to face Belle. “And you… we will talk about this later. Now say your goodbyes,” she snatches the utensils. “And see her off.”
As she leaves, the girls remain.
“Look what you did,” Scootaloo says, devoid of emotion. “You just had to get your revenge on me, huh?”
“What are you talking about?” Belle asks through tears of her own. “Do you think I wanted this?”
“Oh please,” she spit, raising her voice. “You’ve been begging and pleading me to stop the whole fucking time. It’s all you ever wanted from me. You were obsessed with making sure the dirt I have on you never saw the light of day. Of course you moved them over when I was in the shower! You left yours behind on purpose just to get Rarity to find it, excellent plan, you backstabber.”
“Wh, what do you mean?”
“When I got out of the shower, she was standing on your side of the bed. With Sunset’s phone. When I distinctly remember putting it on my side.” This was, of course, a lie. She herself set her and Sunset’s phone together on Belle’s nightstand, unthinking. She would only be in the shower for five minutes and didn’t expect anyone to enter the room. A silly little mistake. One tiny lapse in judgment. And now everything was falling apart. But there was one last thing she could do. “You did this on purpose, didn’t you? You did this just to hurt me back! You betrayed me! Admit it!”
“I didn’t touch the phone!”
“You fucking sabotaged me, you traitor!” She clenches her fists and screws her eyes shut before taking a resolute deep breath. This is it. “I hate you. I fucking hate you. You are dead to me, you hear me? Dead.”
“No…” Belle leans against the wall, slowly sliding down. “Please! You don’t mean that.”
“I have never meant anything more in my entire life. You. Stupid. Useless. Bitch. All you had to do was just do everything I told you exactly the way I told you to do it. It was EASY!” She finally broke out in emotion. But anger, it wasn’t. “Just do what I tell you to, and keep your mouth shut. I tell you to give me Rarity’s phone, and you do it. I tell you to lie to your mom and dad, and you do it. I don’t care about any of your bullshit excuses, and I never have. This was my plan, my perfect plan, and you completely ruined it through your, your, incompetence. Your ineptitude. Your negligence. You don’t know how to follow simple directions! You fucked me up for the last time, so you know what? No more. I am done using you and ordering you around. Okay, you have dragged your feet, and argued with me every single step of the way,” she wipes the tears away as she continues. “I did all of the real work this entire fucking time, and all you had to do was just keep the phone hidden on your side of the bed, and I would have gotten away with it. So mark my words, that big deep dark secret you’ve been begging me to keep hidden this whole time? The one I only hid conditional of you doing what I told you? Well, it’s going everywhere now. Good fucking job, you dumb bitch!”
Cookie steps back out of the kitchen.
“No. Shut up. Shut up! You shut up, and you leave my babies alone,” she growls. “You’ve done enough damage to both of them, to everyone in the school, in the whole damn city. You’ve poisoned this whole household long enough with your lies and deceit, and I will not sit idly by as you continue to abuse this girl who gave up everything to invite you into our home. And you manipulate her into doing your bidding, doing terrible things she would never have done if not for your bad influence, your filthy blackmail. You have five minutes to pack your things and go before I call the police.”
As she speaks, the realization dawns in Belle’s eyes.
“Come on baby,” she says as she pulls Belle into her embrace. “Come in here with me, okay? She can’t hurt you any more. And I promise you, we’ll get through this together as a family, okay?”
The last thing she does before entering the kitchen is silently mouth her thanks, before disappearing around the corner.
Scoot pauses for a moment as she fully takes in the moment.
She may have just burned the bridges with everyone in the house, but the hope that maybe, just maybe, she convinced Cookie and Hondo that Belle was just another victim too? It was enough to steel her resolve. Maybe things went down the shitter for herself but Belle would at least be spared from the wrath of her sister.
But for now, she’ll have to pack.
/x/ Now /x/
“Cold, we’re so cold!” The radio cries, heavy guitars and synths vibrating the windows. “We are~”
Bow reaches over to turn the music down to a reasonable volume.
“I like that song…” Rainbow quietly murmurs, her head resting against the frigid window as she stares wistfully at the clouds.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
“Hmm.” He sits in silence for a few moments before nodding. “Do you need to talk about it?”
Rainbow sighs and throws her head back. “No, it’s fine. It sucks but I’ll get through it.”
“You don’t have to do it alone.”
“Yeah. I know. That’s why I’m going to Fluttershy’s.”
He bites his lip before moving his hand back to the volume knob. However, he hesitates before retracting his hand.
“So. About Scoot-“
“Don’t! Please. Don’t say her name. I don’t wanna hear about her right now. Or ever. It’ll just make me mad and I don’t wanna take it out on you.”
“Okay. Clearly I can’t do this your way. So I’m going to do it my way because this is time sensitive. Rain. I, HAVE, to talk about this, and I, HAVE, to talk about it right now. Because she is going to come to our home next.”
“No, dad, she’s not, because I told her she’s dead to me-“
“This isn’t all about you.”
“The hell it isn’t!”
“I promised that girl that she would always have a place to stay in my home. That there would always be a seat at my table if she was hungry. That somewhere in the world she can be welcomed even if every other door shuts her out. And when she shows up, I need to know what my choices are. Because don’t get me wrong, if I have to choose, then I will choose you over her every single time. But I need to know if I have to make that choice. I need to hear you tell me that you will not be okay with me providing hospitality to her.”
“Would you let her in if I said yes?”
“I would.”
“Why?”
“Because I promised your mother.”
“That!” Rainbow huffs. “The stupid hippo-whatever oath, right?”
“No,” he rubs a hand on his head for a moment before pulling the car over. “This is… pertinent to Scoots.”
“Pert…?”
“It concerns her. When your mother asked you to look out for a kid with orange skin and magenta hair at the high school the first day after winter break, and protect her from Sunset, and make sure she made friends her age, she also made me promise that if that girl ever showed up at our house, that I welcome her in as if she were my own.”
“I mean. Yeah. I guess that makes sense. Her mom died and her dad abused her, right?”
“He neglected her, which, yes, is a form of abuse. Windy never told me the full story, confidentiality and all, but. From what she could tell me, he was awful. She needed a stable paternal figure in her life after such a traumatic event. And she promised me to be that. So when she showed up on our front lawn to do that hero project on you, I let her in and fed her and showed her all of your sports trophies and all that jazz. I never would have expected her to ever be capable of hurting anyone like this. Least of all you. You…” he reaches over to take her hand in his. “I promised your mother to look after Scootaloo. And I did. But now, I’m at a crossroads. I’m going to have to choose between her, and you. I don’t want to have to sacrifice one to save the other, not again. But if I have to choose between my wants and your needs. You come first. You will always come first. And I need to know if in order to put your needs first, I’ll have to turn Scootaloo away.”
Rainbow blinks her tears away as she returns her father’s grip. “Yeah. She hurt me, and I don’t want her anywhere near me, my house, or my family again. I can’t have her in my life right now. I can’t…” She rests her head on his arm. “I don’t care how much trouble she’s in right now. I have to be strong for Sunset. For Rare. For Fluttershy and Pinkie and AJ, for the team, for everyone. And I can’t do that with Her around. She dug this grave and she can lay in it. I’m not gonna bury her but I’m not gonna help her out either.”
“Okay.” Bow leans over and kisses the top of her head. “That’s all I needed to say. I’m sorry.”
“It’s cool… I’m sorry for being a bitch.”
“You’re not a bitch. You are a strong, fierce, independent woman who I am very proud of. You set, maintain, and defend personal boundaries like no one else I’ve ever met. And I want to respect them the best I can. But I can’t go back on my word, unless I’m given something more important. And you are the most important person in my life right now.”
“Except for mom, right?”
He nods. “No. Your mother is so close to second that you two are touching. But when I say you’re my number one? I mean it. If the worst came to pass and I had to choose between you two, then I am choosing you. No matter who it is, or what circumstance, I will always choose you, every single time. I’m not exactly hoping for that to come up, but something about the way your mother talks about Scootaloo is… well, she seems very attached to that kid. And before I get back home from dropping you off, I need to know what the game plan is going to be. So I promise you. Scootaloo is not welcome in my home. Okay?”
“Okay… thanks, dad.”
“Of course.” He turns around to check the street before merging back into the lane. “And. You don’t have to say it back. But. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
He squeezes her hand before reaching to the radio, cranking it back up.
/x/ Earlier… /x/
Scootaloo shoulders her duffel bag, giving one last sad look around the room she called home for the better part of two years. There wasn’t much other than clothes, toiletries, and her phone. She never considered herself a materialistic person. And right now, Things weren’t exactly high on her list of priorities. She didn’t have one, really. One little stupid mistake caused a cascade of failure culminating in what could only become the complete breakdown of her life. Which sucks. She literally had decided the previous night that she had already inflicted as much pain on Sunset as she really wanted to, and was totally willing to just let consequences naturally fizzle out on their own. Perhaps it was that lack of conviction that inspired her carelessness. Because now? Her life was over. And if she was going down, she was at least taking her mom’s killer with her. But first, she needed to figure out whose couch she was going to be sleeping on next.
A curt knock on the bedroom door precedes the entrance of the last person she wanted to see right now.
“Rarity,” she greets without looking up. “You’re awake.”
“Give me Sunset’s phone.”
She begrudgingly hands it over, refusing to make eye contact.
“I presume there was no personal vendetta against myself or my sister,” Rarity says as she slips the phone into her purse. “And we were merely pawns in your game, yes?”
She grunts in response, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall, glaring at the floor.
“I’d like to think that Sweetie Belle and I were more than hospitable to you. I can only wonder why you would cause us such heartache and misery. I understand more than any the desire to get back at all of the horrible things that Sunset did to all of us. But what I will not abide by is collateral damage. I would never dream of hurting you even if it meant my dream job in Paris with Sunset as my own personal pincushion. We gave you everything we could, because we were more than happy to do so. You needed the help. When Applejack contacted me and informed me of the situation, was I not there with her at your house the very next day to help you pack your things and move away from that abusive monster?”
“I didn’t ask for your help.”
“I didn’t ask to have my bloody underwear photos leaked across the internet, and yet here we are!”
“Whatever.”
“Honestly, do you even realize the full gravity of what you have done to my reputation? And I can only imagine now what revenge you’ll have against my sister. I don’t know what secret you have over her, but it all makes sense now. The things you have done or will do, well, there’s nothing I or anyone else can do to stop it. But we will no longer aid and abet your ability to do such vile things. I will no longer afford any further generosity to you, as there are many who deserve it much more than you do.”
“What, like Sunset?”
“Yes. Exactly like Sunset.”
“She’s an evil bitch-“
“She WAS an evil bitch. Past tense. You think I don’t know that? After everything she did to me? For years, before you ever even showed up. You only saw the second half of her reign of terror.”
“What, you think that magic unicorns can show up and shoot her with rainbows and then just erase all the shit she did?”
“No, I don’t think that at all. I fully expect her to make reparations for everything she did. But you never gave her the opportunity to! You’ve made us hate her for things that she didn’t do before we had the chance to sort out the things that she did do.”
“How are you gonna ‘sort out’ what she did?” Scoot challenges, finally locking eyes. “Ignoring your siblings to hang out with her? Oh, it’s okay Sunset, you may be the biggest villain in history, who ripped people apart for pleasure; a pony princess took pity on you so you deserve special treatment. Let’s parade you around as a trophy to show everyone else how much better we are than you because we can forgive someone. Never mind how much she’s hurt other people.”
“She never leaked lewd photos! She never outed someone for their sexuality! And she never made someone suicidal. You did that.”
“She made ME suicidal!”
Rarity sighs and punches the bridge of her nose. “I don’t want to argue with you about this.”
“Yeah? Because you know you’re full of shit.”
“E-?” She looks up at this. “Excuse me?”
“Sunset terrorized us all for years, she planted drugs in our lockers, she lied and stole and cheated and manipulated, and she killed my mom-
“Are you serious? Your mother died in a car accident caused by a drunken idiot driving a faulty vehicle. What on earth could Sunset have had to do with any of that?”
“She was THERE! She caused the accident. She cut us off in the intersection, flipped us off, distracted us, and then the… it…” She screws her eyes shut and presses her hands to her temples. “I’m so fucking sick and tired of answering this goddamn question. She was there, tapping on the door, looking at me in my window. Don’t tell me that I’m lying, don’t tell me I’m insane, don’t tell me she wasn’t there. She was. I saw her. It’s her fault, okay?”
“Do you really think I’m going to believe that?” Rarity asks, rolling her eyes. “After every single other lie you’ve told, it is absolutely despicable that you would try to pull the wool over my eyes once more.”
“It’s not a lie,” Scoot moans, dropping her hands. “Nobody has ever believed me when I said it. But I wouldn’t expect you to either.”
“Ugh.”
“What do you MEAN, UGH?” She screams, tearing away from the wall. “The one thing I would never lie about is my mom! My head was stuck in place staring at her for hours. I see her every time I close my eyes. I-“
“How did you know Sunset was staring at you through your window if your head was stuck staring the complete opposite way?” Rarity quietly asks with a sneer, as Scootaloo freezes in place. “Through a completely shattered window no less. You have failed to keep your story straight this whole time,”
“Wh… what?”
“And I am not stupid. After your outburst the other day, I looked up the accident. I saw the photos they took of the car. There is no way that you would have seen anything through that window, especially so if you’re telling the truth about your head being locked in place. Frankly, the fact that you are using the tragedy of your mother to garner sympathy from me for your actions is disgusting.”
“But,” Scoot whimpers, recalling the memory just as vividly as it was the day it happened. “But I saw her…”
“Either you’re a skilled manipulator, or you have memory problems, but either way you need help. Professional help. Whether you’re willing to concoct such horrendous lies for nothing, or you are just that out of touch with reality itself, there is something wrong with you.”
Rarity then pulls her wallet out of her purse, and pulls several $20 bills out of it. She folds the stack in half, putting the wallet away, and handing over the money.
“Here.”
“Why are you…?”
Rarity sighs and rolls her eyes. “It’s cold outside, and you haven’t eaten today. Take this, have a hot meal, and get a taxi to take you somewhere safe and trustworthy. I don’t want to see your face ever again, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to throw you into the streets with nothing. Nobody deserves that. Not even…” she blinks a few times before a few tears stream down. “Not even Sunset at her worst.”
Scoot hesitantly takes the money.
“Thanks…” she murmurs. After a few moments of silence, she ambles her way out of the room, leaving Rarity alone.
A minute passes before she slides down the wall and sits on the floor, weeping freely. She slides the door closed with her foot and pulls out her phone. Except it’s Sunset’s phone. She can’t find the energy to dig for her own, so she just opens it. A photo of a tearful Sunset and a beaming Twilight assails her, and the dam breaks. Between sobs she scrolls through the contacts. She taps on Flash Sentry’s number and puts the phone to her ear.
“What the hell do you want?” He snaps.
“It’s me.”
“Rarity? He asks.
“There’s been a bit of an update on the Anon a Miss situation.”
/x/ Now… /x/
Sunset sits in silence as Windy looks over her wounds.
“So…” she murmurs, eventually. “I guess I shouldn't have left my phone in my apartment, huh?”
“Hon...” Windy reaches over for more peroxide before turning back to her work. “What happened to Rainbow wasn’t your fault. And, if you really think about it, it was a good thing for you. Because it sounds like Rarity doesn’t think you did it anymore.”
“Whoop dee doo…”
“That’s worth celebration.”
“You know, I don’t feel like celebrating. If what it took to prove my innocence is hurting Rainbow like that, then I’d rather have stayed guilty.”
“But you aren’t the one who hurt her.”
“I may as well have! If I kept my phone on me then none of this would have ever happened, and Rainbow wouldn’t be upset right now. It is my fault.”
“If a frog had wings then it wouldn’t bump its ass when it hops. But frogs don’t have wings, and you don’t have control over what Loo does. She could have just stolen your phone off your person, or used a VPN or a proxy or some other technical workaround, or any number of other possibilities. She…” Windy trails off in thought for a moment before quietly whispering, “How did you know?”
Sunset sighs. “Look, I… I did something I’m not proud of. A lot of somethings. But there’s one in particular. Back in the day. Do you remember the whole weed in the locker thing?”
Windy’s knuckles tighten around Sunset’s wrist for just a moment before relaxing. “I do.”
“Well. To make sure I knew where she was when the plan to plant it went down, I called Rainbow. I said I was in crisis. I pretended to be suicidal and depressed because I was lonely and didn’t have any friends. I confessed to her all sorts of things that I figured were things that I noticed that kids get bullied for but that someone like Dash would be sympathetic towards. Like orphans and lesbians.”
“Mm. Did Applejack find you in a similar state?”
“Similar? Ha. Basically exactly the same state. Just real this time.”
“So you said you were gay and she said hey me too?”
“I’m not gonna say exactly what she said because I don’t wanna invade her privacy any more than it’s already been invaded. But. That’s essentially what happened, yeah.”
“So… are you…?”
“I’m what this world would call functionally pansexual. Gender doesn’t matter to me when it comes to attraction. I mean, back in Equestria, we didn’t really care about that. Our ruler had female and male consorts in even supply. I mean, I’m basically straight for unicorns, I’m not really into pegasi or earth ponies.”
“Earth Pony?”
“Uh. Well…” Sunset rolls her head a bit at this. “They’re. Unicorns without horns. Pegasi without wings. They’re, I’m trying to think of what the politically correct way of referring to them was. I never remembered it because I didn’t care about earth ponies. They’re like. Vanilla ice cream, compared to pegasi and unicorns being the strawberry and the chocolate.”
“So just regular ponies then.”
“Pretty much.”
“So when ponies date someone of the same species, that’s what qualifies as straight in your eyes?”
Sunset nods. “Yeah. Heterospecies relationships were frowned upon by some parts of society. I mean, it was totally normal for unicorns and pegasi to both choose earth pony mates, but if a pegasus and a unicorn dated, it would certainly turn some heads. Actually I think it was illegal a while back. I’m not very well versed in ancient history, but I think that Colonel Hurricane and Queen Platinum excommunicated ponies in interspecies relationships for a little while. I mean, they couldn’t exactly say ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ when one of them has wings, after all.”
“Hmm.”
A silence settles in that Sunset perceives as awkward.
“You’re not, like… upset. Are you?”
Windy nods. “Of course not. My mind is just on a lot of things right now. Please read any of my terse responses as distracted more so than anything else.” She then begins applying an ointment. “I also have an inkling, and I’m trying to piece it together. Because much as I’m willing to help you, my daughter’s safety is my priority. But since Bow is taking care of her right now, that’s one less thing that I have to worry about. But there’s still a lot on my plate. And once I’m sure that these are clean and ready, and I take you down to the Pie household, I’m probably going to have a full day.”
“Doing what?”
“I’m not going to tell you that because it isn’t your business. And this isn’t a matter of anger, it’s a matter of the hippocratic oath.”
“Hippo…?”
“Ah. They wouldn’t have that in Equestria, given you probably didn’t have a Hippocrates. It’s the code of ethics in the medical world. Doctor patient confidentiality and all that.”
“What, about Scootaloo?” At a look, Sunset nods. “Right. Confidential.”
“I’m not going to tell you because it doesn’t concern you. Simple as that. Nothing personal… actually…” Windy freezes in place. “The day you had the weed planted in the locker…?”
“Yeah?”
Windy squints her eyes. “Did you happen to drive around on your motorcycle that day?”
“Yeah. I drove from Gilda’s place out in the boonies to the high school. There was actually a car accident I drove past. Some idiot almost drove into me so I flipped them off. Karma is a bitch though, some other idiot hit that idiot. I called emergency services on a pay phone in case they were hurt, but I wasn’t about to stick around and get busted if the police came too, since. You know. I had drugs on me.”
Windy blinks a few times, before reaching for the peroxide again. “Interesting.”
“Why do you ask?”
“It’s nothing you need to worry about,” she says, flashing Sunset a reassuring smile as she stands up. “You’re clean and clear. Let’s gauze you up.”
/x/x/x/