//------------------------------// // CH16: I just don't know anymore. // Story: Mutual Interests // by Spirit Shift //------------------------------// “I just want to make it clear how much I hate both of you right now,” said Sunset, her tone as plain and even as possible. “I told you, I’m sorry,” whimpered Coco, sliding a sewing needle through a precise spot on the hem on Sunset’s leg. The Daring Do costumes were now near completion and the only things left to do were tailor certain parts of the costume to fit better. Therefore, both Rainbow and Sunset had been asked to gather at Coco’s house for final adjustments. “Why me too?” asked Rainbow, stuck standing in place next to Sunset. Sunset turned her head to face Rainbow, her expression as cold and hard as stone. “You took that picture and showed your friends. While I was asleep.” Rainbow nearly burst out laughing at the memory of her laughing yesterday next to Applejack. “You’re lucky I didn’t draw on your face!” Sunset scowled and turned her gaze back to the room itself. “Rainbow, stop moving,” Coco softly ordered as she examined the buttons on Rainbow’s jacket. Both Sunset and Rainbow were wearing matching forest green cargo jackets with rolled up sleeves. After finding the right color cargo jacket and getting it in three separate sizes, Coco had to make them match the cover by adding a few extra buttons, an extra pocket, and Daring’s signature grey compass rose on the backs of all three. The cargo shorts were easier as they were almost perfect just the way they were. All any of them had to do was roll their pant legs up. Sunset instead simply opted to wear shorts with a raised hemline. The boots however, were the easiest as she was able to find the exact kind of combat boots that she was looking for. Sunset turned her gaze down to Coco, who was already wearing her completed costume. “And you said that I wouldn't have to do this anymore.” “I’m almost done,” said Coco walking around her. “At least you can move more than Rarity will let you.” “Fair enough...” Sunset turned to Rainbow with a bored look. “So if we’re going to see Daring Do, who’s watching the kids on Ni-Halloween?” she asked, catching her slip up. Rainbow shrugged. “I’ll be in and out before it’s time to watch them… hopefully. When does the town-wide trick-or-treating usually start?” “Haven’t you lived in this town for years?” asked Sunset, raising her eyebrow. “I never show up but even I know that it starts at six thirty.” Coco, currently leaning down to fix something on Rainbow’s cargo pants, looked up in confusion. “Wait what are you all talking about? Town-wide?” Sunset looked down to answer Coco’s question. “Yeah this is a really close knit place. Everyone knows pretty much everyone so the entire town celebrates pretty much every holiday together. As for who dresses up, age doesn't really matter, I guess.” “Wow,” Coco breathed. “In Manehatten you have to be careful which part of the city you trick-or-treat in since there are some people who don’t celebrate it. I’m really starting to like this place.” “Yeah it’s pretty awesome. Sports teams could be better,” Rainbow smirked. “So are you guys excited? Two more days!” Sunset turned her bored look Rainbow’s way. “What? For Halloween? Not really. I’m still not trick-or-treating.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “No! To see Daring Do, obviously.” Rainbow’s eyes sparkled in anticipation and she started moving in place despite Coco’s protests. Coco sighed and stood up. “I guess we’re done then. Do you two want to see yourselves in the—” Rainbow was gone before she could even finish the sentence. Coco turned around to see Rainbow on the other side of the room doing action poses in the mirror. They would later have to force Rainbow out of her costume. ~~~ The next two days were torture for both Rainbow Dash and Sunset. For Rainbow, she hated having to wait to wear her new costume. For Sunset, she hated having to hear Rainbow’s complaints. Finally the day arrived and the girls met up at Coco’s house to put their costumes on. It was a two-to-one decision to keep the costumes at her house, with Rainbow being the obvious hold out. Sunset, dressing in a room by herself, tied the final knot on her boots and stood up. Grabbing the green satchel that contained her book, she slung it over her shoulder and sat her Daring Do pith helmet on her head. Making sure she had everything, she called into the other room. “Are you two ready yet?” Coco came down the hall and poked her head into Sunset’s room. In addition to her costume she had on a satchel that was similar to Sunset’s in that it matched the color of her jacket. “I’m ready!” She frowned. “Sunset you forgot to button up your shirt.” Sunset looked down at her chest and shrugged. Instead of having it buttoned up completely like Coco did, Sunset had hers open, revealing her white undershirt. “I like it better this way.” Coco was about to say something when Rainbow ran over and shoved her own head into the room.  Unlike Coco and Sunset, Rainbow had on brown fingerless gloves. She had even taken the extra steps to completely dye her hair in a grayscale rainbow. All of this combined to turn her into a near replica of the girl on the cover of the book. “Aww yeah! Check out what I bought!” Jumping into the room next to Sunset, she started waving around a long brown whip. She whipped it towards the window with a resounding crack. “Watch it!” ordered Sunset, snatching the whip from Rainbow. She stared down at the well woven leather bullwhip. “Wait, this is the same whip that Daring Do bought from Coco Pie in the third book. Where did you get this?” Sunset could almost see the smugness radiating from Rainbow as she asked the question. “Bought it online! I actually wasn’t sure if it would show up in time, but I got it this morning. Isn’t it awesome!” she gushed. “Yeah…” Sunset stuffed the whip into her bag and walked out of the room. “Well let’s go.” Rainbow turned and rushed out after her. “Hold on give it back!” Sunset descended the stairs, calmly keeping a tight hold on her bag. “Delete the picture first,” she said simply. Continuing her three day long attempt to get Rainbow to get rid of that picture that she had on her phone. Rainbow followed her down the stairs, anger played across her features. “No way!” “Then this is mine now.” Coco chuckled and rushed to catch up with them. ~~~ “God I can’t wait!” Rainbow gushed, nearly skipping in excitement. Coco and Sunset were behind her walking normally but equally excited nonetheless. After nearly ten minutes of begging, Rainbow finally retrieved her whip from Sunset. Clipped to a loop on her belt, it swung proudly with each step. Coco turned to Sunset. It was obvious by the way she nervously looked around and how she had lowered her hat to cover the side of her face that she was worried about people recognizing her or saying something. Coco decided to try and ease her nerves. “Cheer up, Sunset. Aren’t you excited?” “Of course I’m excited,” answered Sunset, her voice barely above a whisper. “I’m fine.” “Sunset, the people don’t hate you as much as you think.” “Yes they do!” Sunset sighed and tilted her hat back up. “It’s only a matter of time until someone recognizes me and says something. That’s why I stay inside most of the time. I don’t want that to ruin this day for you guys either.” Coco chuckled lightly. “I don’t think that anyone would just yell at you out of nowhere.” Sunset didn’t reply, she merely continued to glance at her surroundings. As per any holiday, everyone was out and about, putting the finishing touches on their Halloween decorations. Some were even already wearing their costumes. Sugarcube Corner had the brilliant idea of making enlarged decorative versions of the infamous “baked bads” cupcakes. Green decrepit, worm infested confections sat displayed in the windows and on stickers around the door. Mr. and Mrs. Cake were already dressed in their Frankenstein costumes. Sunset could even see Pinkie zooming around inside. The Mash’s game store decorated its windows with the newest horror games. None of them were paying any attention to the three girls walking down the street. Sunset smiled lightly, finally starting to relax. Coco saw the smile on her face and her own smile grew brighter. “See! There’s no reason to worry.” “I guess so--” “Ow! What the hey!” Sunset and Coco paused in their conversation too see Rainbow holding her nose in pain. In her own blind excitement she had accidentally slammed her face into an opening door. Sunset glanced up and recognized it as one of the jewelry stores owned by Filthy Rich’s wife. Three familiar girls exited the building from the open door. Sunset instantly shrank back and tilted her hat down to hide her face. Coco glanced up at Sunset nervously, having had an encounter with those three just a week ago she knew that they were exactly the kind of people that Sunset was hoping to avoid. Rainbow, meanwhile glared balefully at the girls who had just slammed their door in her face. Lily glanced to her side and scoffed. She nudged her friend to get her attention. ”Rose, look who’s here.” Rose turned around and gave Sunset a disgusted look. “What are you doing here?” she spat. “And like, what’s with those costumes? You finally leaving town?” Sunset rolled her eyes and sighed. “Here it comes…” she muttered. She knew that it was just a matter of time until someone yelled at her for something. Rainbow stepped forward and glared at Rose. “You got somethin to say to us?” Daisy moved closer to her friend in concern. “Rose, I don’t think we should—” Rose didn’t pay them any mind, her gaze was locked directly on Sunset. “Seriously, why do you even go outside? Don’t you know that everyone hates you?” “Of course I know that!” Sunset replied, rolling her eyes. “I’m just here to—” Rainbow stepped in front of her. “She doesn't need to explain anything to you. She can do what she wants no matter what anyone thinks about her.” Lily scoffed. “Look, Rose she’s got her little minion defending her.” Rainbow's anger flared. “What’d you call me?” Lilly and Rose burst out laughing at Rainbow’s reaction. This caused Rainbow to get even angrier but before she could do anything Sunset grabbed both her and Coco’s arms and began pulling them away. “See this is why I didn’t want to go out in public,” she hissed. “Let’s just go.” After letting their laughter die, Rose turned her attention to Coco. “And why are you still hanging around her?!” she yelled. “I thought we told you that she’s just using you.” Sunset stopped in her tracks and glanced back at Coco with a confused expression. “What?” “Yeah, we told her,” Rose continued. “We told her about everything you did, she-demon. Bet we like, ruined all your plans, huh?” she smirked, smugly checking her nails. Sunset released their arms and took a few hesitant steps back from Coco. Her face held an intense mixture of fear and disbelief. Coco looked back at her with concern while Rainbow looked between them nervously, struggling to figure out how to fix this. “Yeah, we told her about all the horrible stuff you did to all of us. We even told her all about how you turned into a demon and destroyed the school.” Lilly continued where Rose left off. “I don’t even know why you tried to hide it. You’re a horrible person, Sunset, and she was going to figure it out sooner or later. We just thought that sooner was better is all.” Rainbow turned to them with a fierce glare. “Shut up! You guys don’t know anything!” “And what are you going to do?” asked Lily. “Hit us like your friend did? That’s exactly what Sunset wants you to do. See? She’s still brainwashing people!” Sunset turned to them with a look of anger on her face. “I’m not brainwashing people!” Sunset’s false bravado faded as she looked between Rainbow and Coco, then to the random people watching the spectacle. She knew that this was going to happen, she expected it. She just never expected it to hurt this much. “I’m not brainwashing anyone…” she frowned her voice barely higher than a whisper. “You can cry all you want!” Rose jeered. “I’m not believing it for a second! You’re still a horrible person who should just leave. No one wants you here anymore and no one will ever forgive you. The only reason why these two are defending you is because you tricked them into being your friends somehow.” “Like a bully like her could actually make any friends,” added Lily. “Remember how she tricked Flash into going out with her? Thank God he came to his senses when he did.” Sunset looked around at the increasing number of people glancing toward them. She could hear them whispering about her and it made her ears burn. Even though she knew that everything they said was true. Even the things that she had previously denied about herself seemed to feel like the truth now. She finally began to realize that this must have been what it really felt like when she bullied someone else. Making them feel small, worthless and stupid. It was like one of her nightmares made real. Everything that her shadow self said was coming true. She smiled, realizing that all she really needed was to hear it from someone else. “Hey!” Rainbow yelled. “I’m here because I want to be here. Sunset’s my friend and I’ll hang with her if I want!” “N-no.” Rainbow and Coco turned around to see Sunset standing tall with a strained looking smile on her face. Sunset took a deep breath and let it out. “They’re right. Thanks. That’s just what I needed to hear. It’s true. I am a horrible person… I bullied people until they cried and tore apart friendships just to gain an advantage over others.” Sunset wrapped her arms around herself. The more she talked the less she could contain her feelings. “I’ve cheated, lied, stolen, harassed, tricked, and hurt people. Just for stupid and superficial things like popularity and a false sense of power. I betrayed and used everyone who’s ever even tried to help me. My parents, my siblings, my teacher. I’ve never even considered having friends before and I’m an idiot for even thinking that I could have any now.” Sunset stopped when she felt two arms tenderly wrap around her. Looking down she saw that Coco had been the one to hug her. “Shut up!” she yelled, crying tears of her own. “You’re a good person, Sunset! Stop saying all of those bad things about yourself!” Sunset frowned and harshly shoved her off. Tears finally began streaming down her face. “I am a bad person! Everything they said was true. I told you. I don’t want any friends. I don’t need any… I-I don’t deserve any.” She looked back up at the flower trio. “You all want me to leave? Then I’ll leave. You won’t ever see me again.” Turning, Sunset ran away from everyone as fast as she could, a trail of tears flowing behind her. Rose opened her mouth to say something but all that came out was a grunt of pain. Rubbing her arm she glanced over to Lily who looked at her with a look of shame and frustration. “Way to go. I think we took it too far,” she muttered. “Think?!” Rose turned just in time to be brutally tackled to the ground by Rainbow Dash. The two rolled along the ground for a time until Rainbow ended up on top of her, a ferocious look in her eyes. “What is wrong with you?!” Rainbow yelled, shaking Rose by her shirt collar. “You dumbass! Did you really need to say all of that? Yeah she’s done some crappy things to you, but really?” Rose looked up at her in fear and rose her arms to cover her face. “W-we just wanted to get her back for everything! I just wanted to see her cry, she—” Rainbow’s jaw tightened as her vision went red. She didn’t think twice before raising a clenched fist into the air and bringing it down toward the girl she had pinned under her. Fortunately for Rose, another hand reached out just in time to stop it from connecting. Looking up, she saw Coco standing over her with a deep sorrowful look. “Let go!” ordered Rainbow. Struggle as she might, somehow she could not escape Coco’s tight grip. Keeping her hold on Rainbow, Coco leaned down to look right into Rose’s eyes. “You’ve been tormenting her for weeks just for some stupid revenge scheme?” she asked, giving Rose her sternest glare. “You’re the real bullies! Going around and spreading rumors about her, ruining any chance of her making friends, calling her out on the street just to see her cry? Not even she did that. You’re worse than she was. You guys are the horrible people here, not Sunset.” Coco’s gaze softened and more tears welled in her eyes. “If you just stopped to look at her, even once, you’d see how sorry she was for everything that she’s done. You’d see how sad she was. You’d see that no matter what anyone said or did to her she’d just accept it as punishment. You’d see that she’s just a girl. Not a demon. She’s not a bad person anymore.” Coco stood up and pulled Rainbow up with her. She continued to look down at Rose with a stern look. “No matter what you all say or what Sunset says. Everyone deserves friends. Sunset has us and we’re going to go tell her that. You stay here and think about what you’ve done.” Turning around, Coco ran in the direction that she saw Sunset heading off in, almost dragging a reluctant Rainbow Dash with her. “Wait! I still wanna punch her!” cried Rainbow as they ran off.