//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 - Reunion // Story: Anon-a-Miss // by Dainn //------------------------------// The first thing that Sunset became aware of was just how uncomfortably cold she felt. The cool late night air had stirred her back to reality. Her first instinct was to feel around for a blanket, but her arms were locked in place behind her back. Something was keeping her hands bound together, and the more she tried to fight against her bonds, the further whatever it was that had latched onto her wrists bit down into her skin. She couldn’t stand either. It felt like her legs might have been tied together at her ankles. Not that she would have been able to stand anyway due to how dizzy she felt. Her body began to shiver and shake as she tried opening her eyes, but only her left would open all the way as commanded. The most that she could manage from the other was a slight crack before a wave of pain hindered its progress. She realized that something was wrapped tightly around her face. Whatever it was, it was blocking her vision. She tried moving her arms again, but found little success. Still too dazed to process anything, Sunset tried calling for help, but the sound was muffled by whatever had been tied around her mouth. “Hey, look! I think she’s waking up!” she heard someone call out. ‘Who’s voice? ... Where are you? Can’t see …’ “Well well well, good to have you back!” This voice belonged to someone different. It sounded familiar somehow. Where had she heard it before? ‘Too tired … maybe after a nap ...’ A loud noise resonated in her ears, followed by a stinging sensation across her cheek. Did someone just hit her? Why? That wasn't very nice. “Hey, don’t go back to sleep just yet motor mouth!” It was the voice again. The same person who spoke a few seconds ago. This time she could hear the sounds of multiple voices laughing in unison. ‘Motor mouth? Why’s everyone laughing? Did I do something funny?’ “Hey, Gilda, don’t you think that we might be taking this a little too far? You never said that we were going to do all this.” “Toughen up. Did you really think we were just gonna leave her there? What if she woke up? What if someone found her body? We would’ve been screwed. Too bad you know who had to stay at home. She's missing out on all the fun!” There was a flash from somewhere close by, followed by the sounds of a camera going off. ‘Gil … da. Gilda … That name … I know it. Where … ?’ The cobwebs in her brain were blown away in that moment. The Anon-a-Miss incident, talking with Adagio, the ambush that she’d walked into, all of it came back, start to finish. ‘Oh no … ’ Sunset tried uttering out a message but was silenced by a hard blow to the stomach. She had been hit once again. “Hey, how do you like that dog muzzle we tied around your mouth?” asked Gilda. “Bet you thought it was real funny running your mouth and telling everyone’s business. Well it looks like we found a way to shut you up, huh?” Moderate waves of anger and frustration flowed through Sunset as she scrunched her face together and creased her eyebrows. The display elicited a sarcastic response from one of her captors. “Hey, I think you’re makin’ her mad! Maybe we should stop before she turns red and grows wings again!” There was another bout of laughter and then she heard Gilda’s voice again. “Just so you know, you’re inside an abandoned factory in the middle of nowhere about 20 miles outside Canterlot. Your arms and legs are all tied up and we’re the only ones who know where you are. In other words, you aren’t going anywhere and no one’s gonna find you. “After we leave, you’ll be stuck here in this little dump all alone,” Gilda said in a mocking tone. Sunset then felt a series of overly aggressive taps to the side of her face. “But don’t worry, if you’re a good little horsey, we might come back some day. Just not tonight. Or tomorrow. Or any day over Christmas break. You get the idea.” More laughter. Sunset could hear several sets of footsteps moving away from her direction now. “Hey, Sunset! With any luck, maybe a family of rats will stop by and keep you company after a few days! As soon as they see how much you've got in common, maybe they'll adopt you instead of turning you into a snack?” She heard a male voice call out, followed by what sounded like a distant high five. After Sunset was certain that no one else was around, she took deep breaths, calmed her nerves, and began to think. ‘Ok, so I’m inside an abandoned factory and they have me tied to something.’ She then gave a series of experimental tugs against her bindings. ‘Yep, and the knots around my wrists are tied on there pretty good. Each time I pull, the ropes grind a little deeper into my skin. And my fingers are too numb from the cold for me to get a solid grip on anything. This doesn’t look too good.’ She sat there for an unknown amount of time, thinking to herself, until her inner musings were interrupted by the sounds of rapidly approaching footsteps to her left. ‘Oh great, they’re back.’ “Hey, Sunset, are you alright?!” a voice called out in the form of a shout mixed with a whisper. If it wasn’t for the blindfold, Sunset would have blinked in confusion. Was someone trying to help her all of a sudden? Who was it and why? She could feel a pair of hands fumbling around with something, and then the muzzle around her mouth fell away. After opening and closing her mouth a few times in response to the soreness, she turned in the direction that the voice had come from. “Who are you and why -” “Shhhh!” The speaker placed a hand over her mouth. “It’s me, Snips! Keep it down, someone might be close by!” “Yeah, and don't forget about me!” whispered a cheerful voice that she knew belonged to Snails. “Wait, you guys were in on this too?!” Sunset angrily whispered. “We sure were! Actually, no, I take that back. We didn’t help them beat you up or anything if that’s what you mean. All we did was watch,” Snails stated while Snips untied her blindfold. “You watched?” Sunset asked. Snails nodded his head up and down like a goofball. “You watched thirty plus people nearly kill me … and instead of going to get help … you stood there … and watched?” “Yep!” Snails chimed in with a smile. Then his eyes widened as he finally understood where Sunset was going. “No, wait a minute -” “Sunset, listen,” Snips interrupted, “Me and Snails didn’t want any part of this. We were out minding our own business when Gilda stormed up to us and demanded that we “help her rip you a new one” or something crazy like that. She probably thought that we had some dirt on you that she could use since we used to work for you and all,” he explained. “Yeah,” Snails said in confirmation. “And we couldn’t really say no either. Gilda’s scary enough as it is, but she’s like a bazillion times worse when she’s mad! And you should have seen Rainbow Dash! She looked crazy too!” Sunset stared at her former lackeys in confusion. “Dash? What does she have to do with any of this? I thought Gilda attacked her and stole her phone. Why were they together when you got cornered?” Silence permeated the air. No words were spoken as Sunset took in the saddened looks on their faces. After another moment or two, it finally clicked, and Sunset lowered her head towards the ground. “I thought Gilda’s story sounded a little weird, and now I know why. Rainbow was in on it too, wasn’t she?” Snips and Snails exchanged glances as if the two were having a mental debate over who should be the one to break the news. “Sunset,” the red haired girl raised her head slightly at the sound of Snail’s voice. “You didn’t hear this from us, but, Rainbow never got jumped, and her phone never got stolen. She let Gilda borrow it, and then she helped set this up. Leading you to the school was all her doing. But to be fair, I don’t think that she knew that Gilda was going to take things this far. She was really upset because Anon-a-Miss posted a really embarrassing secret about her at lunch yesterday.” Sunset’s body sank even further into the ground as she heard this. Her now messy and ruffled red hair hung over her face, casting a shadow over her eyes. ‘And what do you do with a dog that starts biting the hand holding its leash? Get rid of it. They've been playing you like a pipe since day one.’ The memory of her talk with Adagio echoed in her mind. Silence reigned for several more seconds until Snips finally picked up from where Snails had left off. “At first Gilda was just gonna round up a few of us and then corner you in the girls’ bathroom or something like that. We never got the chance because you didn’t come to school today. Then Rainbow got the idea to send you a phony message. And did you know that she told everyone where your apartment was? We were supposed to snatch you up outside if you didn’t fall for the trap.” Sunset raised her head just enough that her tired and desolate eyes became visible. “I guess I should be used to it by now. It’s always like this in the end.” The hurt in Sunset’s voice was evident. If the other students had gotten too carried away she could have been killed. She didn't believe for a second that Rainbow wasn't aware of this. It just wasn't fair. After everything that she had been through, reforming, the sirens, trying to save the school, what did it matter anymore? “Back in my world, Celestia is a princess,” Sunset explained. “All she ever tried to do was help me. I returned the favor by throwing it all back at her, because I thought that she was holding me back. I had the chance to start over with a clean slate when I came here and I used that second chance to bring other people down, just to make myself feel better. I finally made a few friends for the first time and tried turning over a new leaf, but that didn’t work out either. And as a bonus, one of those friends nearly got me killed ... “It seems that no matter what I do, I always end up causing way more harm than good in the long-run. So … maybe it’d be better if I just stayed here? Maybe I deserve this ...” Snips frowned at the spectacle before him. Sunset always seemed so proud and confident in the past. Seeing her reduced to a broken wreck on the floor felt wrong. He walked forward and sat down next to Sunset, butterfly style. “I think you might be looking at this the wrong way.” “What makes you say that?” she asked in a monotone voice. “Well,” Snips began, “you said that you ran away because you thought that you didn’t need that other Celestia, right?” “Not my exact words, but yeah, that's one of the reasons why I left,” Sunset replied. “Well in that case you were right. I’d say you got along just fine without her.” Sunset glared bloody murder at Snips using her good eye and began to tug several times against her bindings. “Does this look like ‘Just Fine’ to you, you fat slob?!” Snips flinched away at the sudden harshness which made Sunset look away in shame. “I’m sorry.” Snips took a deep breath and then started again. “What I meant was that you survived. Sunset, I wouldn’t know the first thing to do if I ever ran away from home. I mean, sure, I have a little bit of money in my bank, I have some things I could pack in a suitcase, and I can make phone calls if I wanted to stay with someone for a week or two. “But you? You didn’t just run away from home, you ran away into another dimension! You didn’t come here with anyone else, you had no way of calling for help, and you didn’t know anything about this world or the people who live here. But despite all of that, you survived here all by yourself for almost four years. And you did it all without Celestia’s help. “And about all of the things that we helped you do to the other students, yeah, maybe we were a little out of control.” The sorrow on Sunset’s face grew. “But you tried to make up for it instead of sweeping it under the rug,” Snips added in quickly. “All me and Snails did was runaway and hide until the heat died down. When everyone started blaming you instead of all three of us, we didn’t speak up. If it had been me, I would have gone back through the mirror a long time ago. But you never gave up. Even now, you’re still here trying to make things right. “And as far as Rainbow Dash and the others go? It’s just like what happened with the other Celestia. You got by just fine without them before. You can do it again.” Sunset turned back and faced Snips on the verge of tears. “But I’m tired of always being alone! Don’t you understand that?” Snips frowned and looked away. “So I guess me and Snails are just chopped liver then, huh?” Sunset’s eyes widened, as she realized the implications behind her last statement. Even Snails seemed somewhat offended. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean -” “Nah, it’s alright,” Snips butted in, cutting her off. “We get it. I’m a loser and Snails is an idiot. No offense buddy.” “None taken,” Snails replied. “We’re just a pair of screw ups. That’s why you ditched us for Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Applejack.” Sunset gasped in alarm. “Oh no, Snips … Snails!” She looked back and forth between the husky teen sitting on her right and the thin one standing to her left. “I swear that wasn’t the angle I was going for! All I ever did was treat you guys like tools. I thought I was doing you guys a favor by turning you loose.” “It’s fine … I guess,” said Snails. “Anyway, we’ve kinda been gone for a while. We don’t want to leave you here like this, but if me and Snips don’t head back soon then the others will probably come looking for us. Gilda did give me and Snips a lift here and all. She's probably gonna have to give us a ride home too.” “He’s got a point,” Snips said while standing back up. “I guess it’s now or never. Do you want us to lend you a hand? Or are you going to let Gilda win?” She closed her eyes. It wasn’t for very long but for Sunset it felt like hours. She debated with herself, back and forth, like an internal game of tennis. At long last, she finally she opened her eyes. “Snips … Snails …” The two teens stared at Sunset. “You guys up for one final scheme?” Her two companions stared at each other and then looked back towards Sunset and nodded with smiles on their faces. At long last, the team was back together. “How many students are still here?” Sunset asked. “Not sure. Most of them had already started leaving by the time me and Snails doubled back over here. I don't know how many of them are left, but probably not a whole lot,” Snips stated. “Alright,” said Sunset. “And you said that Gilda was your ride here, right?” Snips and Snails both nodded in confirmation. “That means that we might have to deal with her later, but before we even get there …” Sunset gave a small tug against her bindings, “Snips, I need you to find something that can cut through these ropes. If this is a factory, then there should be something sharp enough lying around somewhere.” “I’m on it!” Snips gave a small salute before running off. “Snails, all I need is for you to find my coat for me and bring it here. If you know where my phone is then that would be a big help too.” “Uh, that might be a problem.” “What happened?” asked Sunset. Snails began scratching the back of his head. “Gilda got really angry when you threw your phone at her. So she kinda threw it against the sidewalk. After it broke apart she stomped all over what was left. Then she threw your coat in the trash while you were knocked out in the trunk.” Sunset sighed in irritation. That phone of hers wasn’t cheap, and the winter coat that she had been wearing was pretty expensive too. “Snails, your job is to go find something that I can use to warm up. If you find a coat, a blanket, or anything else that I can wrap up in, bring it here, please.” “Got it!” Snails enthusiastically exclaimed before running off. As Sunset watched him leave her mind traveled back to a question that had been asked not too long ago. ‘So, you want CHS to go back to how it was before, and then you want to make up with those friends of yours and live happily ever after, as if none of this ever happened?’ Sunset shook her head. "Whatever happens next ... I'm not doing this for CHS or for anyone else. Not anymore." A new fire began to burn in her chest as she began planning her next move should she escape. "I'm doing this for me."