Lost past. New Present?
Flash drove his car through the streets of the city, worry dominating his mind. More than once, he had to stop to review the address he was given, but beyond that, he managed to find his way easily enough.
Flash keeps his eyes peeled as he pulls down an empty street, looking for something. Or rather, someone. Soon, his eyes focus on what looks like the figure of a person leaning against a tree near the sidewalk. A closer look confirms that the person is a girl, and not just any girl.
"Sunset!"
In a hurry, he approaches, parks his vehicle, and gets out to run towards Sunset. Up close, he can clearly see the bruises and scrapes adorning the girl’s face. The area under her left eye is swollen with a blackish color. Her eyes are closed, spiking Flash’s worry.
"Sunset? SUNSET!"
Flash’s call does the job. Sunset stirs, managing to open her healthy eye and look at Flash.
"Flash... You came..."
"God, Sunset! What happened to you?!"
"Oh, you know... Conflicts between schoolmates..."
He doesn’t understand the answer but doesn’t make an effort to do so, deciding to ask later. Supporting the girl's arm on his shoulders, he helps her get up and walk to her car. He helps her into the passenger seat, quickly takes his own place behind the wheel, and gets back on the road.
"Don’t worry. I'll take you to a hospital. You'll be fine,"Flash says frantically.
"No hospitals... Just take me home."
"You’re hurt, Sunset! They should check you."
"Seriously, Flash. I have medicine at home. I'll be fine."
"Sunset—"
"Flash! I don't have any real ID?"she snaps."I’m an illegal alien as far as the government is concerned. Getting into a school is one thing. If I go to a hospital, they’ll probably put me in prison after patching me up."
The revelation freezes his blood. He does not stop driving, but he does speak as his brain tries to process the situation.
"Right… To home, then..."
*S*A*S*
"Ow! Damnit!"yelps Sunset.
"I-I'm sorry!"Flash says.
With great care, the boy passes the piece of cotton over the girl’s eye. She moans a little but does not move away. Taking some medical tape, Flash presses the cotton down and tapes it into place.
"Are you okay?"he asks for the umpteenth time.
"I've had worse, believe me,"she answers without much doubt.
There is silence. Flash looks at the girl.
The dirt had been cleaned, the small cuts bandaged, but the bruises were still noticeable. Her uniform was covered with dirt, and her hair was disheveled, but even in that state, Flash couldn’t help but see the pretty girl underneath.
He shakes his head hard."Come on, focus, Flash!"he thinks. To focus his mind on something else, he decides to talk."Sunset, who did this to you?"
Sunset hesitated a moment before responding,"A girl from Crystal Prep. Nobody important."
"A girl? Alone? Wow... That's amazing."The girl's healthy eye reveals her curiosity at the boy's words, and Flash quickly explains,"Well, at school, you never had problems with anyone looking for fights. I remember when you tackled the football captain after he stepped out of line. He was so impressed, he wanted you on the team."The memory brought a laugh to both of them."You always knew how to defend yourself,"he continues as his laughter quiets,"even physically. So, this girl—"
"Actually,"she interrupts,"I let her hit me."
"What?! Why?"Flash says, surprised.
"There was an... altercation between her and someone else, and I stepped in. She was really upset,"she explains."If I had defended myself, it would’ve just made her angrier. Now that she beat me up, maybe she’ll calm down and forget about it."
Flash is stunned.
Memories came to his mind of when he first met her. She was a distant girl, cold, seemingly afraid to do anything or talk to anyone.
It did not change much when they started dating, but she did open up a bit, at least with him. Then came the "dark age", when she began to take over the school. Many faced her, and she won all her battles. There was only one person who could beat her.
Twilight Sparkle.
After that night, she changed, it seemed, into a totally different person. That cold, aggressive, almost insensitive girl had left, and in her place was a fearful, kind, good-hearted young woman.
That girl that he knew was there all this time.
"Flash? Hey, Flash!"
The call pulls him out of his trance. He shakes his head and stutters,"Ah? What? Wh-What's up?"
"I know I look awful, but you don’t need to stare,"Sunset says in a somewhat teasing gesture.
He felt his cheeks heat up. How long was he deep in thought?
"I-It wasn't my intention! I was just thinking of something... something not important!”
She looks at him curiously, and he feels his whole face burn.
"Besides, you don't look awful. You're still beautiful. No, wait, I didn't mean that. Not that you aren’t, of course! You are! It’s just that—"
To avoid further embarrassment, he slapped his forehead with his palm and hid his eyes to avoid eye contact. Soon, a sound suddenly filled the atmosphere.
A snicker.
Flash parted his fingers a bit, allowing himself to look at her. Sunset had a hand over her mouth in a futile attempt to silence her laughter.
Flash was surprised, to say the least. He stares at her, but she does not stop laughing a friendly, comfortably laugh. He racked his mind, looking for some memory of having seen her laugh like that at some point in the past.
None came to his mind.
Sunset's face was still bruised, her hair disheveled, her clothes stained, but all that was overshadowed by that laugh. It almost seemed as if her face was shining. Flash did not know when, but eventually, his lips curled, and his own laugh escaped his mouth.
They keep laughing. He keeps a hand on his forehead, feeling silly but happy. She clutches her stomach, ignoring the pain caused by her laughter, and their laughter only grows. Calming down some, they open their eyes and look at each other, only to laugh again with more force. It almost seems that the laughter of one only increases that of the other.
For a few minutes, the whole apartment is filled with their laughter, but eventually, the laughter begins to fade. Both breathe deeply, small chuckles escaping a couple of times, until finally, the laughter fades entirely.
They remain silent, but it is certainly not an uncomfortable silence, until Sunset finally decides to speak.
"You always know how to break the tension."
Flash chuckles a bit nervously, this time."I really don't know what I did... Heh..."
Another, much smaller laugh escapes from her."Thanks for helping me today, Flash."
"It's nothing. What are friends for? If... If you need anything else, just call me."
"Thank you."A smile, small but genuine, lights up her face.
*S*A*S*
Eventually, the boy leaves, and the former equine is once again alone in her apartment. She lets herself fall on her couch and allows her aching body to rest.
The day had been difficult. Hell, “difficult” was putting it lightly, but at last it was over. Now, she could rest.
A curious smell reaches her nose. She looks at herself, noticing the state of her uniform.
Well, she could rest as soon as she cleaned her clothes a little; she still had school tomorrow.
*S*A*S*
Sunset hangs her washed uniform out the window to let the wind dry it.
She had, in the meantime, changed into a white shirt and some pink sweatpants to keep herself warm and comfortable.
Comfort. Sunset needed a bit of that after her day.
She drops on her bed and looks up at the ceiling, her healthy eye threatening to close.
It was still too early to think about sleeping, but after such a day, she may very well sleep and not wake up for a couple of days.
The idea sounded really tempting.
When she closes her eye and relaxes her body, her mind goes through her experiences of the day.
Her arrival at school to the stares of the students.
The talk with Cinch and Twilight’s help.
Her beating at Lightning’s hand.
And finally, Flash coming to her aid when she really needed it.
Thinking about that made her feel warm. Flash really helped her, answered her call, and brought her home. He even helped her with her injuries despite being told that it was not necessary.
Thinking about it, there was no reason to be surprised. Flash had always been like that. He was always helping her out. That boy was special.
"Princess Twilight’s lucky to have him,"Sunset thinks to herself.“Just one more thing she has over me.”
It's not the first time that Sunset thought about that. Princess Twilight had everything Sunset herself could ever hope to have.
Twilight not only received the acceptance of Celestia but also fulfilled the very dream that Sunset had held for so long, the very dream that Sunset left her entire life behind to achieve.
Twilight managed to become everything Sunset wanted to be. The irony was that the purple pony did it all without trying, instead simply being who she was.
Twilight had the love of her mentor, she had a crown, she had hundreds of ponies that loved her, she had a family, and finally, she had friends.
Friends who were there for her, friends who loved her, friends who appreciated her, friends who would never turn their backs on her.
The memory of those five girls invades Sunset's mind, but instead of getting depressed, she feels frustrated, angry.
She thought that she had done well, that she had proven that she had changed, that they trusted her.
She was wrong. They were never her friends. She was just a charity case, given to them by Princess Twilight, who had saved the school and rebuilt the friendship that Sunset herself destroyed.
It was so obvious, she felt so stupid for not noticing.
She was never a friend to them. They just wanted to please the princess.
"Stop thinking those things!"Sunset thought, reprimanding herself.
All that was the past, and the past is not today.
Now Sunset had another life, one that needed to be built from scratch. She had already done so more than once. She could get up and move on.
She was strong, she was intelligent, she was able to fend for herself. Even now, she had resources that she did not have the first few times. She could do it, even if she did not have friends.
The image of three people reaches her head.
Twilight, fearful, studious, with a great appetite for knowledge. They had helped each other twice. She was… something. Sunset did not know what, but she was something.
Sonata, once her enemy, now... Well, it was not clear what she was. She was happy, a little annoying, but in the end, she was someone to talk to. Or rather, someone to listen to.
And Flash, a little clumsy but a boy with a noble heart. She had heard that Equestria's Flash was a soldier of the royal guard. Sunset believed it; it made sense. He approached her years ago to help her when she was lost just because it was the right thing to do. And he helped her again now, after everything that happened.
Three people, two that Sunset barely knew, one that she had only known for a few years, were all she had in her life.
Calling them "friends" would be too much, but they were something to her.
She yawns and settles back into her bed.
Too many thoughts. She needed to rest. Tomorrow, hopefully, would be a better day.
*S*A*S*
It was not a better day.
When Sunset tried to get up, she was painfully reminded of the damage to her body, and after resting for several minutes, she was forced to move with great care to avoid further damage.
A couple of painkillers calmed her pain, thankfully, and Sunset quickly ironed her dry uniform, doing away with most of the wrinkles, before dressing and checking herself in the mirror.
The cuts on her face had healed, leaving only small scratches. There were still some bruises, but there was no other inflammation, which was good.
Her eye, on the other hand, was still in bad shape, the area around it bloated and black, but at least she could keep her eye almost fully open.
She thought about using makeup to cover her wounds, but she was not used to that. She usually put on only a little for meetings or parties that were really important, so her attempt to hide the wounds did not end well, and she ended up just wiping it all off.
Finally, she placed new, clean gauze on her eye and left for school.
*S*A*S*
Like the day before, many looks were directed at Sunset.
She did not know if it was due to her appearance, to more strange rumors, or to her fight with Lightning going public.
As before, she tried not to pay attention. Perhaps they would forget about her when they started classes, just like the day before.
Sunset arrives at her locker and prepares to open it, when she hears a gasp behind her.
"Oh, my God!"
Sunset quickly turns and sees a girl with turquoise skin and short, violet-and-pink hair adorned with a flower-shaped brooch. Her eyes were wide with horror as she beheld Sunset’s wounds.
"Ugh, you look terrible! I won’t let this go! Come with me."
Without another word, the girl grabs Sunset's wrist and starts dragging her along.
"H-Hey, what are you doing?"Sunset demands.
The girl gives no explanation as she pulls Sunset into a nearby restroom. She pushes Sunset into one of the stalls and closes the door after going in herself, locking it.
Sunset does not manage to ask anything before the girl pulls out a makeup set and starts working on Sunset’s face without asking permission.
For several minutes, Sunset feels the girl's hands move across her face, applying creams and powders. Finally, after a little mascara, she takes a brush and fixes Sunset’s hair.
Finished, the girl pushes Sunset out of the stall and toward the mirror, and Sunset gasps. Her face looks untouched, as if the fight had never happened. Even her swollen eye is hardly noticeable if you don’t know it is injured.
The mystery girl stands next to her and looks at her carefully before smiling and sighing."I feel so much better now,"she says.
After looking at her reflection for a minute, Sunset turns to her “attacker”."Um, now that you’re done, who are you?"
"Sunny Flare, honey,"she says."It´s a pleasure to meet you."
"Um, Sunset Shimmer,"Sunset clumsily responds.
"Oh! ‘Sunset’, ‘Sunny’. Almost seems like a predestined encounter."
Sunset decides to ignore that and says,"Um, I guess I appreciate you cleaning me up, but why did you do it?"
"For me, order and beauty are essential. I can't be calm if my environment is not in perfect condition."Her gaze changes from calm to a little serious."That means no spots, no dust, no mess."She looks closely at Sunset's clothes."And no wrinkles!"
Sunny says nothing else before pulling out a small spray bottle.
"H-Hey, wait!"
*S*A*S*
Finally, Sunset arrives at her classroom."How many crazy students am I going to meet?"she thinks to herself as she mentally reviews what she had just experienced with that girl Sunny Flare.
*S*A*S*
Another test, another problem Sunset didn’t need to worry about.
Despite it being only her second week, Sunset had managed to catch up with the classes, and she was sure she had done a good job on the exams so far.
"And it's all because Twilight helped me. I'll have to do something good for that girl,"Sunset thinks as she shuffles through her locker.
Sunset’s so focused on the matter, she does not notice when that very girl steps up behind her.
"Um... hi, Sunset Shimmer,"Twilight says softly.
Sunset turns so they can face each other."Hey, Twilight,”she said.“How are you?"
Twilight remains silent, looking towards the ground. The fire-haired girl waits for her to speak, and when Twilight does not, Sunset tries to say something.
"I’m sorry!"Twilight suddenly exclaims.
Sunset is surprised both at the interruption and at the sudden apology."What are you sorry for?"
"I-I'm sorry... for the way I acted yesterday."
"Yesterday?"
Twilight closes her eyes tightly."I was awful to you. I... I made terrible accusations at you. Don’t you remember?”Twilight looks away and says,“I shouldn't have acted like that."
Twilight suddenly starts sniffling, and Sunset thinks,“Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. After everything that happened, that conversation was the farthest thing from my mind.”Sunset gently grabs Twilight’s shoulders and says,"Hey, hey, calm down. You don't have to sorry for that. There's no problem; it didn't bother me."
"It’s just that this is the first time anyone’s treated me like that, and I… I just…"Twilight managed out between sniffles.
Sunset was lost. What should she do? She had never had a girl crying like that in front of her. Well, not without her causing it herself, but that was in her dark days! This was different!
Twilight takes off her glasses and uses her arms to wipe away her tears."I-I'm sorry... I don't know why I'm crying. I'm such an idiot!"
"H-Hey, it's fine,"Sunset says hesitantly. She does not really know what to say, so she can only repeat platitudes.
"Y-You’ve been so kind, and I... I was so rude to you..."Twilight said.
"Come on, stop crying."Sunset's words seem to calm Twilight a little, and Sunset uses her thumb to wipe away the girl's tears."Twilight, it's okay,"continues Sunset calmly."You weren’t rude. You’ve been very kind to me, you helped me study for the exams, and you even defended me from Cinch. If it weren’t for you, I may not even be enrolled here anymore. You’ve helped me a lot, and I appreciate it."
Finally, Twilight's eyes look at Sunset's."I should be the one thanking you..."
"How about we say we’re even?"Sunset smiles softly.
The purple-haired girl puts her glasses back on, and they look at each other in silence. Sunset starts to say something but is cut off when Twilight suddenly hugs her tightly. It takes a few seconds for Sunset to overcome her surprise and respond to Twilight's hug.
It was strange. It did not feel like the hugs she was used to. It was different, clumsy, but it was not unpleasant.
Eventually, Sunset again remembered that this was not the Twilight that she knew, and it was soon clear that this girl had even less experience in friendship than Sunset herself had.
That hug, if you could call it that, reminded Sunset of herself. It reminded of her of those times when she did not know how to express her emotions, when she was afraid of feeling affection, and when she was not sure who she was.
All that was reflected in a single action from a girl who, despite being so familiar, was a complete stranger.
Maybe itwasa better day, after all.
*S*A*S*
Darkness covers the Apple farm. All the members of the family lie in their warm beds, sleeping peacefully.
Well, almost all of them.
Apple Bloom, the smallest of the family, cannot fall asleep. Completely covered by her warm blankets, she lies hugging her legs against her chest, her body trembling not from cold but from fear.
Apple Bloom couldn’t see it from inside her blankets, but she nevertheless felt that presence. It was near her bed... in front of the door... right behind her back... somewhere... or everywhere: the specter that tormented her so.
"It's not real,"the little one thinks to herself."Your mind’s playin’ tricks on you. It’s not real. It’s not real. It’s not real!”
She repeats those words over and over in her head. But that icy sensation on her back makes it clear that those eyes were on her.
*S*A*S*
It's early in the morning. Rarity takes a small sip of her fruit juice and prepares to return to her breakfast, when she notices that her sister has not touched hers.
"Sweetie, are you okay? You haven’t eaten anything."
"I'm not hungry..."says the little one.
"Does your stomach still hurt?"
The little girl does not respond, but her arms surround her belly. Her older sister stands up and comes over to hug her.
"Oh, darling, you really should see a doctor."
"Nurse Redheart said I don’t have anything..."
"While I do not question the professionalism of the nurse, you've been like that for several days. It's not good for you to eat so little. This afternoon, after school, I'll take you to the doctor."
Sweetie Belle does not argue. She only takes refuge in the arms of her older sister.
*S*A*S*
Scootaloo came to school early; she could not bear to stay alone in her house. She wanted to see her friends as soon as possible; being on her own was not doing her any good.
In fact, none of them was doing any good.
She had noticed the state of her friends. Apple Bloom was distracted, disturbed, and repeatedly stared at nothing with a face full of fear. Scootaloo herself was frightened by her friend.
Sweetie never wanted to eat. Every time she tried, she said that her stomach started to ache. Because of this, she always felt weak and sleepy.
The little athlete felt terrible, not only for what they did to Sunset but also because she could not help her friends, who were worse off than her.
Being without them terrified her. Every time she was not at their side, she feared for the safety of both of them, afraid something terrible would happen to them.
*S*A*S*
Canterlot High's principal keeps her eyes on the documents on her desk, writing, reviewing, filing, and setting them aside. Wash, rinse, repeat.
Eventually, Celestia pauses and looks at all the papers in the corner of her desk. She lets out a moan of frustration, throws all the papers on the floor, and buries her head into her arms on the desk.
"Why do I even bother?"thinks Celestia."What is the point?"
Forcing her body to straighten up and lean back in her chair, she looks up, her eyes wet.
She opens one of her drawers and takes out a newspaper clipping. This one displays a color photograph of six of her students and the girl that had united them. The caption under the image reads
"Great show, Canterlot High and The Battle of the Bands"
The principal's eyes are focused on the fire-haired girl. She was smiling, happy, surrounded by her friends.
Celestia runs her hands over her face, refusing to cry.
"Everything was going so well. I thought... I thought I could take care of my school. I..."
How did all this happen?
A little over a month ago, the school was very lively. Everyone was happy, there was friendship, love, good friends everywhere.
And then, Anon-A-Miss arrived.
One person, one page, one profile of a social network had completely destroyed the school.
They had all hated Sunset. And now she was gone.
And so was Anon-A-Miss.
Anon-A-Miss no longer existed. The page had closed, but she had still won, and even Sunset, being innocent, had allowed that person to win.
But, why did the school still look so depressed? Why were there no laughs? If everything was over...
Celestia does not notice the moment her sister enters her office.
"Celestia,"Luna says,"are you crying?"
Celestia quickly cleans her eyes and face, trying to maintain a serious face.
"It's just fatigue, Luna."
"Sister, I know you. What's wrong?"
Celestia is silent for a moment."What do you want me to say? I failed, Luna. I failed as a principal. "
"Celestia—"
"Everything was going so well: my school, my students, my career. And now… it’s all…"The serene face so characteristic of the principal threatens to fail at any moment."I couldn't protect my students from a digital ghost! I couldn't help Sunset Shimmer prove her innocence! Now she's gone... and my school..."
Luna wanted to say something to help her, but she did not know what. "Anon-A-Miss is gone,"Luna says,"Everything will return to normal sooner or later."
"I want to believe that, but everyone is—"
"It's just bad weather. Winter does that to people. When spring arrives, everyone will be back in their good spirits."
Celestia hides her face in her hands. Luna does not see them, but she knows there are a couple of tears flowing down Celestia’s cheeks.
"Sister, maybe you should take a couple of days off,"Luna suggests.
Celestia lifts her face and, with a movement, removes her tears."No. I've failed enough already. I'm the principal of Canterlot High, and I'll act as such."
Celestia does not wait for any response and proceeds to get up and collect all the documents on the floor. Luna watches her very worriedly but decides to simply leave Celestia to her work.
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It's great to see this get updated, I hope to read more. By the way, there were a few grammar errors that came up after translating. It's mostly the use of 'he', 'him', and 'his' when referring to a female character, "Sonata, before his enemy, " for example.
8734370
Yeah, I know, that's why I said at the beginning that I would have more mistakes than usual, I'm a bit tired but I wanted to bring the new chapter today, maybe I'll fix it a little tomorrow.
I'm glad you're interested in the fic.
I hope Dean Cadence steps up and that Cinch retires or is forced too. I'm curious where this is headed. Keep it up.
The CMC are starting to crack. It's only a matter time before one of them confess.
I hope to God, you don't ship Sunset & Flash in this fic! Anyways, its Canterlot High is on the path to self-destruction with Celestia breaking down, the students still not sure on how to recover & the C.M.C.'s guilt is starting to effect them mentally & now physically... Time heals all wounds? B.S.
I'm wondering how many nails are going to be needed to seal CHS's coffin once the Crusaders breaks off and starts to confess.
XP Okay. I’m not trying to be mean, but that’s unintentionally funny with how it’s worded. It makes me think he’s working a bazooka in the shape of Sunset’s arm.
Ok, so i really love this story!
I'm curious how you go on, when the crusaders are going to confess, what Princess Twilight is doing and so on.
There is just one little things bothering me, and I hope it's not too annoying, but I'd like to ask this (not in any kind of ill intention): Do you not KNOW the difference between him/her, his/hers or are that all just a lot of... random... typos? I know you already said we're not supposed to comment on that, and usually I don't do it either way, but this is just utterly confusing me. I had to read some parts up to four times to understand who you meant when, especially while Flash was there. Sometimes I simply couldn't find out who you were talking about.
Again, I'm sorry if I sound rude or anything, I'm not perfect myself, iit was just something really bothering me. Sorry... (I talk to much...)
Edit: Oh gosh I feel so bad for writing such a damn long negative comment... Just wanted to add: I'm still gonna read your story and I still love it! Beside the his/her there really isn't anything too bad, your writing style is very likeable and you manage to keep everyone quite well in character, I really like it!
I'm surprised this celestia didn't hire a private eye to investigate Anon-a-miss out of her own pocket
9739394
Private eyes are expensive. And while the Equestrian Celestia is rich, I doubt a High School principal could afford a private eye.