//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: A Second Chance to Find Home // by Burning Sunset //------------------------------// Friday, December 11th: Fluttershy sighed heavily, her large pink coat still not really giving her much protection from the cold. Of course she never liked the cold much anyways, so part of her discomfort could be blamed on that. The physical discomfort wasn't what was bothering her the most as she looked thorugh the glass of the front door of Sugar Cube Coorner. At their usual table was the rest of her friends minus Sunset as they were discussing the whole Anon-A-Miss scandal that was rocking the school and hurting their friendship. It was what they were coming here to do anyways, yet something was stopping Fluttershy from joining them. She was extremely upset yesterday when they first confronted Sunset at the school over the whole situation and maybe acted a little too rashly. Yeah the evidence was hard to refute, but did she really want to believe that Sunset could do something so horrible and underhanded? She wanted to believe the girl had changed, they two of them having gotten rather close during the months after the Fall Formal then the Battle of the Bands. She couldn't help asking herself if her regret over her actions yesterday was really because she believed Sunset or because she wanted to believe Sunset. It was no secret among the others that Sunset adn Fluttershy was very good friends, though they didn't know how deep Fluttershy's feelings ran. She perhaps cared a little too much for Sunset which was why the thought of th egirl doing this hurt her so much. A chill breeze blew across her making her shiver, a reminder of the dropping temperatures. The night promising to be one of the worst on record. Seeing Rainbow Dash waving at her from inside, Fluttershy sighed and pushed the door open and stepped through into the small yet usually popular cafe. The warm air washing over her was a god send as it warmed her cold body allowing her to removed the bulky coat and hang it on the back of her normal chair at the table with the other girls. "You okay there sugarcube?" Apple Jack asked, noticing the blush on her face becasue of the cold, and maybe the stray thoughts of a certain somebody that she couldn't help worrying about. They should have been having a slumber party, not gathering to talk about one of their friends behind her back. Something that really didn't sit well with Fluttershy. "Not really girls, I've been doing a lot of thinking." Fluttershy said nervously, getting all of their attention. "About what Shy? Is more people bothering you?" Rainbow Dash asked, cracking her knuckes as her eyes narrowed angrily. "About Sunset. What if she was telling the truth and we were that hard on her for absolutely no reason?" Fluttershy asked, her voice getting softer and softer as she noticed the anger in Rainbow Dash's expression grow word by word. "You have got to be kidding me, Shy!" Rainbow Dash snapped as Mrs. Cake dropped off a cup of hot cocoa for Fluttershy. "Now girls, we might not busy at the moment, but please don't make a scene." Mrs. cake said, smiling at the girls. "Sorry auntie." Pinkie said, her voice seeming so sad. "What's going on girls?" Mrs. Cake asked noticing the dep[ressed look on her niece's face. "We figured out who Anon-A-Miss is, Mrs. Cake. It was Sunset Shimmer all along." Rarity said, Mrs. Cake's expression hardening. "It might not be." Fluttershy squeaked out getting an incredolous look from Rainbow Dash. "Darling, we know you care about her, but those pictures and videos could only come from one place." Rarity said putting a hand ontop of Fluttershy's. "You know she took those pictures at the slumber party and she never lost her phone." "What if somebody hacked her phone or something?" Fluttershy asked, grasping at straws by this point. "Sweetie, I don't think that is possible." Mrs. Cake said sadly putting a hand on Fluttershy's shoulder. "Shy, I know you care about her, but stop." Rainbow Dash growled out. "It hurts me to Fluttershy." Pinkie said, her hair seeming flatter than usual. "She was so much fun." "I know it hurts honey, but you can't save everyobody. You need to worry about yourself and your friends. It might be best if you just forget about that deliquent." Mrs. Cake said, her voice a mixture of sadness and anger. "I'm sorry girls, I need to get back to work." "Look Shy," Rainbow Dash sighed as Mrs. Cake walked away, "It's either her or us. We're your friends and love you, but you have to understand we are the one who love you and wouldn't hurt you the way Sunset Shimmer has." "She's a snake in the grass, sugarcube." Applejack sighed, tears flooding Fluttershy's eyes as she started to realize that they wer eright. Her heart didn't want to admit it, but she knew. She knew that they were right and there was no way somebody could have posted those pics since Sunset always keeps close tabs on her phone. The only time she doesn't is when she sleeps as she seemed to be such a heavy sleeper when at their houses. "I guess your right." Fluttershy cried as the other tried to comfort her. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Sunset tried to protect herself from the biting wind that had seemed to double in just the last few minutes. Her leather jacket wasn't in the best condition since it was old, the zipper broken and the few rips in it. Of course she had asked if Rarity could fix it, but the girl had apologized claiming that leather was a material she really couldn't work with and was afraid of damamging it farther. She had offered to make her a new coat out of a different material, but Sunset had foolishly refused and was now regretting that. Her jacket was the least of her worries though as she knew that tonight was going to be extremely cold and she couldn't return to the library. Ever since she had blown a hole in the school, the school board put competent security guards at the school and kept them after it was fixed. This was going to be her first winter without a place to go and she had been looking forward to these slumber parrties as they promised her a safe, warm place to sleep. A place where she could actually rest instead of having to keep one eye open to protect herself. Sadly she was only able to go to two of them before the Anon-A-Miss ordeal bacame too much. She honestly had no idea how it was done as the pictures really did look like the ones she had taken at Rarity's slumber party. Tonight should have been Apple Jack's turn if Sunset remembered right and it would have been a life saver as tonight the paper she had read warned people not to be out for very long. If she was stuck out her she was afraid she would become very sick if she was lucky, because death was what she feared she was looking at. Looking thorugh the front door she could see her friends sitting around a table enjoying what looked like Mrs. Cake's hot cocoa and right now Sunset would kill for a cup of it to warm her up. She had hoped that maybe if she tried talking to her friends again that maybe this time they would listen. Maybe they would give her a chance and she would admit the truth to her situation, though a part of her bitterly thought that they should have bothered asking. They should have known she had no family to celebrate the holiday with as they knew she was from a differnet world. Yet not even the one she cared for the most had bothered asking about her personal life much. Were they ever really her friends? She didn't want to think that the answer to that question was yes, but the last few days had been pointing to the answer being a no. She guessed she would find out as she was going to try talking to them one more time. She was going to ask any of them for shelter for the night and maybe help finding something else tomorrow. Pushing into the door she froze when the group looked up at her, anger and hurt on all of their faces. She could only concentrate on one face though, a pink haired girl whose face was tear streaked and the tears didn't look like they would be ending any time soon. The sight broke Sunset's heart as she hated seeing the girl hurt like this. "What are you doing here?" Rainbow Dash hissed out. "Get out, Sunset." Fluttershy said softly, her voice sounding broken yet so full of anger. "Shy?" Sunset asked softly, reaching out toward her though Apple Jack got between them and shoved her back. "Get away from her you snake." Apple Jack hissed out. "Don't come near me, Sunset. We aren't friends anymore. I don't even want to ever see you again!" Fluttershy sobbed out, her voice actually raising higehr and higher until she was screaming, "I hate you!" Sunset just stood there, unable to do anything as she looke dinto the pain filled eyes of the one person she always thought she could count on. The person she had been wrestiling with herself over for weeks trying to decide if she should ask Fluttershy out or not. The person who she was sure she loved. As her mind threatended to completly shut down a stong grip closed around her upper arm and yanked her away from the girls. Looking up she was surpsied to see Mrs. Cake dragging her out of the cafe while Rainbow Dash could be heard snickering. "I can't believe I actually gave you another chance to prove you weren't that hateful bully." Mrs. Cake growled out, shooing Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo inside when they stopped near them. They started to say something, but quieted them with a look as they gave Sunset a sad look before going inside. "You tore those girls apart once and you are doing it all over again! Well I won't allow it, you ever come back here or go near those girls again and I'll call the cops." "I didn't do it!" Sunset sobbed out, not noticing the look on Mrs. Cake soften for a moment before hardening again. "Come back again and see if I don't call the police." Mrs. Cake hissed, Sunset feeling as if she had no options left. Nobody who even cared about her or if she lived or died. "Don't worry, nobody will ever see me again after tonight." Sunset sighed, walking away from the woman as the snow began falling even harder making it hard to see too far. The cold seemed even worse as the backpack on her back seemed to grow even heavier as she trudged away from the cafe. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX "I can't believe we thought she was family." Rainbow Dash hissed out making the three girls freeze in their tracks. Scootaloo was already scraed of what they would do to them when they admitted that they were Anon-A-Miss, but seeing the angry look on her idle didn't give her much hope of things turning out okay. "Family doesn't hurt each other like that snake, sugarcube. Forget her." Apple Jack said as Rarity seemed to be trying to comfort FLuttershy and Pinkie Pie. "Girls! We can't tell them!" Scootaloo hissed out at her two friends, pulling them back as she looked up at the group of girls who hadn't noticed them yet thanks to them being preoccupied with talking about Sunset Shimmer. "We have to, what about Sunset? She looked really sad out there." Apple Bloom sniffed, hugging herself. "Yeah, and Mrs. Cake threw her out. Do we really want to be the cause of that?" Sweetie Belle asked softly. "If they thought of Sunset as family, what are they going to say if we tell them? What are they going to do to your two? At least you have the excuse of being real sisters with them, I don't have that. If we tell them they will hate me and never let the three of us hang out again." Scootaloo said looking at the floor. "And what about Christmas? Do you really want to ruin their Christmas?" "What about Sunset's Christmas?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Look, I really do feel bad, but if we tell them then they are just going to go back to neglecting us and spending time with her! Do you want that? Don't you think Sunset deserves at least some punishment for the way she made everybody feel from before?" Scootaloo said. "Maybe I suppose." Apple Bloom sighed, sounding undure about everything. "I guess it would be nice to show her what it feels like to be treated the way she treated everyone else." Sweetie Belle said uncomftortably. "Okay, then it's settled then. We wait and see what happenns." Scootaloo urged them, finally getting nods from he rtwo friends. She realy did feel bad about Sunset, but the older girl desevred this for all the pain she had caused and then taking away Rainbow's attention as well as Rarity's and Apple Jack's. She really needed to pay for what she had done instead of the slap that Sunset had gotten on the wrist. If she truly believed that though, why was she hurting so much after seeing Sunset so upset outside? And why was she feleing so guilty? XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX The snow was falling so heavily that no sooner had she brushed it out of her hair it returned. It was hard seeing too far ahead and her bare legs between her skirt and boots felt as if they were going to freeze solid. Once again she cursed herself for going to Rarity's slumber party instead of the church clothing giveaway as at least she would have had something warm now. Stumbling through the biting wind, Sunset held her jacket closed as she turned down an alley hoping to get away from some of the wind. She was in luck though as she realized where she was. It was the alley between that discount bread store and the jewlery store, and while the owner of the jewlery store had chased her off more than once, they were closed by now. The bread store had a raised platform that severd as a loading dock with a recessed garage door which she found to still be mostly dry. The wind was taking the snow in the opposite direction of the opening as well as the worse of it being blocked by the two buildings. Slipping her bag off her back she scooted as far back into the corner, the light overhead actually putting off a little bit of warmth, though not much. Still, it provided light for her as she dug through her bag before pulling out an old binder wither the plastic seperating fron the rest of it on the corners. She really did need a new one, but after tonight it wouldn't matter. Taking the pen out of her bag she tested it on the first blank sheet of paper she came to and wasn't sure if she was happy that it was still working or not. Did she really want to do this? If her choices was going on and most likely freezing to death tonight when knowing that everybody she cared for hated her, that the girl she could admit to herself that she loved hated her, and ending it on her own terms and finally escpae this pain; there wasn't much of a choice. Hi Everyone, I'm not sure what will get me first, this freezing weather or my ownself. Either way tonight will be my last night on this world. I want to say one last time that I am not Anon-A-Miss. I don't understand why not one person will believe me after everything we've been through, unless nobody really did care for me. It doesn't matter anymore I guess, as by the time anyone reads this I will be gone. Maybe Anon-A-Miss will go away after I'm gone and at least something good will come from this. I do want to say that despite the way you have treated me, I don't hate you. I don't hate any of you despite you breaking my heart into a million pieces with false promises of friendship and family. I guess I always was alone and I'll be spending my last few minutes in this world alone. Maybe with me finally gone, your real freindships will grow and you won't have to worry about the worthless, homeless piece of trash any longer. I'm sorry I don't have anything to leave any of you, but all I have is a few dirty outfits, a cracked prepaid phone Snips and Snails bought me for my birthday that your friendship lazer damaged. I don't even have wifi on it anymore since all I coould do was make calls on it at the best of times and take pictures. I do have some school supplies that if they survive the night anybody can have if they actually want them. I don't care, I won't have any use for them anymore. You know, I was actually looking forward to these sleepover parties. Since Twilight left Snipa and Snails won't even speak to me and you were the only ones who seemed to care that I had noone to spend Christmas with. While I was very happy to be able to spend it with all of you, I have to admit it was also nice having warm meals and a hot bath with a roof over my head for the night, I'm sorry for tha tangent, I'm having trouble saying exactly what I want to say with me freezing my butt off here. I guess I should go, but I hope you al lhave a Merry Christmas and a Happy New without me around to interfere with it. Love, Your ex-friend, Sunset Shimmer. Closing the binder she shoved it back in her bag and pulled the small pocket knife out of her pocket. It was kind of ironic that the tool she kept close when on the streets at night in case somebody got the idea to attck her was going to be used to end her time here. Opening the blade she admired the silver gleam off of it's blade before pulling up a sleeve and rested the freezing metal against her wrist. Closing her eyes she quickly ran it across her tender flesh leaving a wake of red bubbling up after it. Changing hands she repeated the process with the other arm. XXXXXXXXXXXX "Thanks again for letting me come in after work to place my order." Cadence said, smiling at the older man who smiled back at her. His store was closed, but since he has done a lot of business with her In laws and knew cadence's busy schedule, he agreed to let her in the back and make an order for several Christmas gifts. "It's no problem dear, but I hate hearing that you have been so busy during the holiday season." Silver Watch said, opening the door for Cadence. They both winced at the cold burst of air that burst through the slightly open door before he growled in annoyance. "What's wrong?" Cadence asked, following his eyes to see a flame haired girl huddled up on the loading dock. "I've told that girl not to hang around here. She sits up there scaring the few people I allow come in after hours because of their work and she scares them. They worry that she's going to mug them." Silver Watch sighed, "I don't have anything against the kid, but I can't have her scareing my customers all the time." "Call 911." Cadence said, seeing some of the snow that was building up stained with red. "I'm sure she isn't going to do anything, there's no reason to involve the police." Silver Watch said.Cadence climbed up on the platform to move over to check on the girl. "Not the police, she needs an ambulance. She's hurt!" Cadence said, checking for a pulse and finding that it was there if weak. The could possibly helped slow down the blood flow, though it was causing it's own damage.