Back where we started
Scootaloo fell back against the dark concrete below with a loud crash. With a wince, she placed a hand over her stomach as if it would somehow cause the injury to heal faster. The three students responsible, Dumbbell, Hoops, and Score, all gazed upon their handiwork with smiles plastered across their faces.
They weren’t finished yet. Not by a long shot.
“Can we please not do this today?” Scootaloo whimpered.
“Oh? And what’s that supposed to mean?” Hoops, the tallest member of the group asked with a smirk. “Here we are, going out of our way to walk you home and keep you safe from the guys who’d make what we’ve been doing look like kiddie stuff. And all we’re asking for is a little … “Compensation” a few days out of the week in return. I’d say that’s a pretty sweet deal, wouldn’t you?”
“Not to mention the fact that I’m stuck living under Sunset’s boot for a second time, all because of you and those friends of yours. And while everything’s a big train wreck, you, and your two partners in crime, get to walk around without a care in the world. How is that fair?” Dumbbell added in.
Scootaloo tried to shrink into a ball as she found herself being eclipsed by three different shadows that were slowly closing in on her direction.
Score, the third member of the group, was the last one to speak up. “Exactly! Why should the rest of us have all the fun being miserable all the time? You and your friends started this. So it only makes sense for you to join in too, right?”
And with that, there were no more words spoken, only satisfaction while the three teens proceeded to punch and kick away at their target, all while taking great care not to get too carried away.
This had become pretty routine for Scootaloo. Both of her parents worked in the afternoon until late at night, meaning that there was no one available to pick her up after school. Once upon a time, all she would have needed to do was ask for a ride from Rarity or Applejack, her two best friends’ older siblings. However, that stopped being an option after the fallout from Anon-a-Miss, the infamous online persona created with the intent to separate Sunset Shimmer from her friends as well as turn as many CHS students as possible against the fiery haired teen.
Unfortunately for Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Applebloom, their identities were eventually discovered, followed soon by the collapse of their entire plan. Ever since then, several steps were taken to make it as difficult as possible for the three friends to have any sort of interaction with one another, both during and after school hours. This obviously meant no more rides home after school of course. With no other options left, she had to resort to taking the bus. The problem with that was that this meant riding home, day after day, trapped in a confined space with several of the very students that had not only fallen victim to her and her friends’ scheming, but had also been manipulated into wrongfully lashing out against an innocent girl.
To make matters worse, there was still quite a distance between where the bus dropped the students off after school, and where her home was actually located, resulting in Scootaloo having to walk the rest of the way by herself. It was only a matter of time until the middle-schooler’s worst fears came true, and some of the other students took notice.
The good news was that there were only three students in particular who were brave enough to take advantage of the opportunity, despite several warnings from Principal Celestia herself about what would happen to any student caught trying to bring about physical harm to Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, or herself. The bad news was that these three specific students were some of the most feared among the student body.
As Scootaloo sat there, curled into a ball, and tearing up from the punches and kicks, she realized that she should have considered herself lucky. Throughout all of the months that this had been taking place, they never once invited anyone else to join in. It was only ever just the three of them. Even more fortuitous, her attackers had rules that they did their best to follow at all times. No doing anything too excessive, no inflicting injury to the point where Scootaloo would have either needed medical attention or would have had trouble walking, and above all else, no attacking the head, or any other exposed body part that could be easily seen from the outside.
Despite whatever cautionary measures the teens had set in place, the fact of the matter remained that they were playing with fire. One mistake, one witness passing by the alleyway at the wrong time, or just one CHS student paying extra close attention to their afterschool Punching bag at just the right moment, and the three friends were going to get burned; as they were about to learn following five simple words.
“Are you guys having fun?”
Dumbbell, Hoops, and Score immediately found themselves frozen in wordless terror. They recognized that voice long before their eyes had landed on the speaker, as well as the disaster that was likely to come with it.
Standing at the alley’s entrance, was Sunset Shimmer. She was dressed in a light blue shirt with a leather jacket with yellow stripes. The skin surrounding her right eye, although healed, was permanently scarred from the ambush that had taken place five months ago. Her passive stare shifted back and forth between the helpless girl laying on the ground, and the three athletes gazing back in her direction with a deer in the headlights look.
“I always knew that the temptation was there, but I didn’t think that anyone would actually be this stupid,” Sunset began calmly. “Dumbbell, you of all people should know better. I know for a fact that you were there when I told all of you about what I was going to do if I ever found out that anyone laid a finger on Applebloom or her friends.”
Sunset then turned her attention towards Hoops and Score. “And then there’s the two of you. Between Celestia and the rest of the teachers and staff, the entire school must have gotten briefed at least a thousand different times that anyone looking for payback for what happened on Mystable would be looking at an automatic long-term suspension at the bare minimum.”
Sunset pulled out her phone and shook her head in disappointment. “Well, whatever. I recorded more than enough to prove without a doubt that you guys just attacked Scootaloo. I’ll just go ahead and send this over to Celestia, call up the Commissioner and -”
“Wait, wait, wait, hold on!” Hoops interrupted. “We didn’t actually hurt Scootaloo THAT bad. See? She’s fine.” He then pulled a frightened Scootaloo off the ground and signaled for her to run away. She immediately charged over to Sunset and sought shelter behind her. “Besides, we didn’t do anything all that bad. Not even Dumbbell over here!” he explained while patting his friend on the shoulder.
“You didn’t do anything wrong?” Sunset repeated with a bemused expression. “Ok, nevermind you and Score, I told Dumbbell specifically that -”
““If any harm befalls Applebloom, Scootaloo, or Sweetie Belle while on School grounds, then it’s off to prison,” or something like that, right? From what I heard from the students who got punished for dragging you off to that factory, those were more or less your exact words,” Hoops interrupted. He then outstretched his arms in an effort to draw attention to the immediate area. “But you know what? I don’t see any school buses, lockers, teachers, or classrooms anywhere. We’re a little ways off from CHS, which means that by your own rules, Dumbbell here didn’t actually do anything wrong.”
Sunset folded her arms, clearly not amused. “Ok, I’ll humor you for a second. What’s your excuse for Score and yourself?”
“Simple,” Hoops said with a smile. “We haven’t done anything worth getting expelled or suspended over! I mean, seriously, think about it for a second! For the last few months, we’ve made sure that Scootaloo got home safe and sound, every single day after school. Not only that, but we’ve gone out of our way to make sure that some of the other students, as in, the ones who got outright devastated by Anon-a-Miss, never found out that one of the three students responsible for all of their shame and humiliation is completely defenseless from the time she hops off the bus, until the thirty minutes it takes her to walk back home. And instead of getting more people involved, we’ve kept it contained to just the three of us! Compared to someone like say … Gilda or your old pal Rainbow Crash, I’d say we’ve practically been like saints!”
Sunset hummed to herself in deep thought after hearing the explanation. On one hand, she wanted to push him off of a building for bringing up her two least favorite people from that side of the mirror. On the other hand, if she was being honest with herself, it wasn’t so much the act of Scootaloo getting bullied that bothered her. What she was displeased with was the fact that the three students standing in front of her were trying to sneak around the rules that she had set in place.
After dwelling on the matter for a few more moments, Sunset turned around to face Scootaloo. “He said that it’s only been the three of them that have been giving you a hard time. Is that true?”
Scootaloo nodded back in confirmation. “It’s always them. I don’t think anyone else knows. If there are more, they’ve never showed up so far.”
“Good, I can work with that,” Sunset answered before returning her attention back to Dumbbell and the others. “Lucky for all of you, I’m in a good mood today. And if what Hoops said just now about nobody else knowing is true, then I think that maybe I can try being diplomatic. So here’s what’s gonna happen.”
Sunset pointed in the direction of the three teens who had taken it upon themselves to escort Scootaloo back home every day. “You’ve had your fun and you got your payback against Scootaloo for the part that she played in Anon-a-Miss. Congratulations, job well done.” Her tone suddenly became stern as she continued. “But this is where the game ends. No more messing with her like this after school. I’ll find someone else to take her home so she won’t have to worry about creeps like you. And as long as you all agree to never do anything shady like this again, no one has to get in trouble, and we all walk away happy,” Sunset proposed. “So, do we have a deal?” She then raised her phone high enough into the air for everyone to see. “And I think you’d better say “Yes” because none of you are in a position to negotiate.”
Hoops turned towards his friends with a nervous grin. “Well, I don’t know about the rest of you, but that sounds like an idea that I can get behind.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Dumbbell replied back in acceptance. “That kid’s not worth the hassle anyway. Let’s go.” He turned around, prepared to leave, until someone stopped him.
“What’re you two walking away for?” Hoops and Dumbbell turned around to see that Score hadn’t moved an inch. “Don’t know why you’re letting her walk all over you. It’s just Sunset, not some professional MMA fighter.” Everyone present in the alleyway stared at Score with looks of absolute shock, except for Sunset who looked on with mild curiosity.
“Dude, are you out of your mind?” Hoops whispered. “Did you forget about some of the things she’s done to people over the years?”
“No, I didn’t forget,” Score said with a smile. “But that was then. She’s soft now. Just look at her, standing up for Scootaloo after everything she did. She’s even letting us go after how adamant Dumbbell said she was about getting anyone who got caught messing with those kids locked up.”
Hoops raised an eyebrow. “Your point being?”
“She’s threatening to ruin us, but I don’t think she has it in her to actually go through with it. Not after all that time she spent practically begging for everyone to give her another chance. That’s why she’s letting us go. She doesn’t want people to be scared of her anymore. Well mission accomplished!” He turned towards Sunset and began rubbing his hands together. “She’s all talk. And even if she is serious, all we have to do is run after her and grab her phone before she can do anything.” He began to smile as several diabolical thoughts began to fill his imagination. “Just one of us alone could knock her down a peg. Imagine what all three of us could do?”
“Yeah, I bet that’s real easy to say when you aren’t the one she’s blackmailing with the threat of jail-time. And unless you’re thinking about turning into a murderer, that plan won’t work out in the end anyway,” Dumbbell replied in annoyance. “Thanks, but no thanks. Now stop acting stupid before you really screw this up.”
Score scoffed at Dumbbell. “I’m not talking about going that far. I’m not a criminal. I’m just talking about giving her a little reality check.”
Dumbbell shook his head in disapproval. “If you want to make this worse for yourself, then by all means, go for it. Just don’t expect me to go down with you.”
Score turned to the tallest member of the group next. “And what about you, huh? You gonna wuss out too?”
Hoops lowered his gaze with a pensive expression. He had already decided from the start that he wasn’t going to follow along with Score’s idea; now he just needed a way to persuade him into abandoning his train of thought. He sighed before speaking again. “See, it’s not that I’m “wussing out” or anything. It’s just …” he lowered his head once more, still unsure about what to say, when suddenly, his eyes lit up.
“You ever sat down and just, I don’t know, really paid attention to the people on some of those weird game-shows that old people are always watching?” he asked his friend. “There was this one time where this lady had won herself a new house, a new car, a boat, and almost half a million dollars. But she ended up losing it all. Got too greedy and tried to stack a paid vacation to Los Pegasus on top of the pile when she could have just walked away with what she already had.” He looked back and forth between Score and the girl dressed in leather who had been observing patiently. “Getting even was fun and all, but I think we should probably quit now while we’re ahead.”
Unfortunately for Hoops, his words didn’t appear to have any effect.
“No thanks, I’m goin’ all in. Watch and learn you two.” Score broke away from his friends and marched directly over to Sunset. Standing high enough that CHS’s former Queen Bee had to tilt her head upwards just to maintain eye contact. Even with the boots that she was wearing, Score still looked down on her with an air of overconfidence.
“Alright, Sunny,” Score began with an arrogant smile, “Since you like scaring people into going along with these dumb little deals of yours, I think I’m gonna go ahead and try it your way.”
“Oh, is is that right?” Sunset asked.
“Yep. So here’s what I say. First I’m gonna kick your horsey little ass back to Sunshine Meadow or wherever it is that you came here from. And then, after I show Hoops and Dumbbell over there that there’s nothing to be afraid of, we’re gonna grab that little turd over there and pick back up from where we left off. How’s that sound?”
Sunset, much to Score’s surprise, didn’t seem intimidated in the slightest. In fact, she was even beginning to smirk a little. “Oh, so you think you can knock me over like it’s just another game of football? Well since you want to get physical, how about we up the ante a little?” she suggested. “Me and you, right now. The first one to say “I give up” loses. If you win, I’ll delete the video and leave. Then you can go back to messing with Scootaloo whenever you feel like it.”
Scootaloo was just about ready to protest the unfairness of that deal, or just flat out chance it and run away now while everyone was distracted. Sunset had clearly lost her mind if she thought that she stood any chance at all in this type of matchup. This was just going to be a repeat of what happened after she got attacked in the gym. She found herself recalling the picture that had been posted on Mystable the day before Christmas Break. That gruesome image of Sunset tied down, bloodied, and defeated.
‘Wait a minute …’ Scootaloo thought to herself.
‘So, you’re saying that if your punishment was to “take care of them” for me, you’d jump at the chance?’
‘Oh, of course! I mean, someone has to do it, right?’
Scootaloo gasped as realization began to dawn on her. ‘She already planned for this! She’s just messing with him like she did with Gilda!’
Hoops and Dumbbell must have come to a similar conclusion, as Hoops had begun to facepalm while Dumbbell shook his head from side to side.
“Ok, I’ll bite. If I win, you stay out of our business and we get Scootaloo. But what happens if by some miracle you win?” Score asked.
“It’s just as I said before. Everyone goes home, we pretend that none of this ever happened, and I get someone else to take care of Scootaloo. Plain and simple, right?”
Score stood in silence for a few seconds while going over the stipulations in his mind. “So you’re telling me that not only do I get to beat you like a drum until you give up, but the absolute worst thing that can happen out of this, is that everyone here goes home and acts like none of this ever happened? No running to Celestia, no arrest warrants for Dumbbell, no nothing?”
“Correct.” Sunset slid her right hand inside of one of the pockets on her jacket, leaving the other one to dangle at her side. “And just to make things even more interesting. How about we have Scootaloo and your two friends back there record the whole thing on their phones? That way, there’s no disputing who the winner was. And this way, if you win, you’ll have something nice to show everyone at CHS.”
Score’s eyes widened in shock for a moment, and then he started to laugh. It was almost too good to be true. “Oh, you can’t be serious! You really wanna get embarrassed that badly? Fine! Bring it on then!”
“So, we have a deal then?” asked Sunset. “Think carefully before you answer. It’s not too late for you to back out.”
“Oh, forget that! It’s on! And just so it won’t be a complete one sided beatdown, I’ll even go ahead and let you throw the first punch!” Score boasted with a smile.
An eerie calm had fallen over the alleyway as all eyes were now focused on Sunset. “Are you sure you want to do that?” she asked.
“Of course! It’s not like you can actually hurt me or anything!” Score turned towards Hoops and Dumbbell. “You heard her, get your phones ready and start recording guys! And get a good look because this won’t take long!” Hoops and Dumbbell stared at each other for a moment before silently complying. Meanwhile, Sunset turned slightly towards Scootaloo to make sure that she did the same. After confirming that she did indeed have her phone ready, she turned back around to face Score, who had hunched his body over so that he was at eye level with Sunset.
Score pointed a finger towards his own face and smiled. “Go ahead! First hit! Wherever you want! Better make it a good one though, because it’s the only one you’re gonna get!”
Sunset glanced around one final time between Scootaloo, Hoops, and Dumbbell before bringing her attention back onto Score. “So, last time I’m gonna ask. Are you absolutely sure that you want to go through with this and that you want me to make the first move?” she asked calmly.
“Did I stutter?”
Sunset was smiling at her opponent now. When she spoke next, her tone was warm and inviting, and yet her eyes contained the promise of absolute cruelty. “Just making sure.”
Sunset’s right hand erupted from her pocket. In a flash, Sunset’s fist had connected with the left side of her opponent's jaw with a disturbing amount of force. The impact was far greater than anything that her body should have been capable of producing.
Score flew backwards, specs of red flying from his mouth. For him, time seemed to move in slow motion. He struggled to make sense of how he had gotten hit that hard. He looked over and caught a glimpse of the hand that Sunset had used to strike him with, and then, milli-seconds before landing, he got his answer.
Sunset had a brass knuckle attached to her right hand.
Before he could question it further, Score had fallen to the ground. It wasn’t long until the pain kicked in. Shortly afterwards, a muffled scream pierced the air as he clutched the newly injured side of his face in agony.
The onlookers stood speechless as Sunset gazed down at her opponent like a discarded piece of trash. “Well, you’re on the ground and I’m still standing. Normally I would assume that the fight’s over. But we agreed that it’s on until someone says “I give up.” Too bad for you, I can’t understand a word that you're saying with you crying out and covering up your mouth like that. Oh well.” She slowly stepped forward, presumably to cause more harm while her target tried to back away.
“Alright, that’s enough! You won already, calm down!” Dumbbell snapped in mild annoyance as he and Hoops ran forward to secure Score and drag him away to safety.
Sunset turned towards Scootaloo who, to her surprise, still had her phone out. “You can stop recording now.”
“Tch, told you not to go over there. And they call me an idiot,” Dumbbell scolded while he and Hoops examined the rapid swelling taking place around Score’s jaw. “What are you even doing carrying something like that around in the first place?” he asked Sunset.
Sunset shrugged her shoulders nonchalauntly. “He wasn’t lying when he said that I’ve gotten soft. You can thank my ex-best friends for that,” she explained. “Between them, and no longer being treated like an outcast, I got complacent. Next thing I know, the whole world’s turned against me, and I wake up to find myself beaten senseless and left to die in some forgotten building in the middle of nowhere.” She pulled out a piece of cloth from her left pocket and began to clean the weapon attached to her hand. “This is just one of a few different safety measures that I've taken up since then to help make sure that that never happens to me again.”
Dumbbell looked down upon Score once again, his face was completely devoid of sympathy as he reflected on how his friend had fallen into such a pitiful state. The pain seemed to have abated somewhat, as his shouts had been reduced into low groans. “Yeah, yeah, whatever, Shimmer. You gonna rat us out?”
Sunset removed her weapon and returned it back to her side. “I already said that I wouldn’t. But who knows? I could always end up changing my mind. I guess you should probably run away before that happens.”
Dumbbell and Hoops exchanged glances with one another, both coming to a mutual unspoken agreement that it was time to go. Together, they both pulled Score onto his feet and began walking away.
“Oh, and one more thing before I forget.” The three bullies stopped and turned back to face Sunset – she was holding Scootaloo’s phone in her hand. “I could care less about what story you all come up with for how he got hurt. But if he gets on my bad side again for whatever reason, then I’ll make sure that the entire school gets to see for itself how the Vice-Captain of CHS’s football team got knocked on his ass by a girl. I just sent a copy of the video to my phone, so I can send it out to whoever I want, whenever I want. You got that?”
Score narrowed his eyes as best as he could without aggravating his injury, but other than that, no further acknowledgement was given. The boys turned back around and quietly made their exit.
As Sunset watched them leave, she breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that Score was the only one that she had to deal with. If either Hoops or Dumbbell had decided to back him up, then she wasn’t sure if she would have still been able to maintain control of the situation. It wasn’t until after she was certain that they weren’t coming back that she allowed herself to turn back around and face Scootaloo.
The smaller girl looked up and met Sunset’s gaze with a mixture of both fear and wonder. Appearing from nowhere and breaking her cycle of abuse with seemingly no effort, she felt inclined to rush up to her new hero and show some gratitude. The only thing keeping her rooted in place was the overwhelming regret that came with the memories of all of the pain that she and her friends had caused her not too long ago.
After a brief moment of silence, Sunset took it upon herself to be the first one to speak. “I ran into Sweetie Belle a few days ago. Somehow she was able to sneak away for a few minutes without anyone noticing. She found me just as I was about to go to lunch and told me that she thought you were getting messed with,” she explained while doing her best to recall the conversation with Rarity’s younger sibling. “She said that she noticed that whenever anyone else was around, you didn’t have much of a reaction, not even if Gilda got in your face. But for some reason, you’d always turn pale whenever any of those three bozos were around.
“She said that the final clue was when she saw you washing your hands in the bathroom the other day. She told me that when she looked in the mirror, she noticed a nasty looking bruise on one of your arms.” After hearing that last part, Scootaloo subconsciously glanced down and began rubbing her left arm just above where her elbow began.
Sunset observed the action for a moment before speaking again. “I reasoned that if something was happening at school then I would have already heard about it, so I decided to tail you back home and see if anything was up. I guess you should probably tell Sweetie Belle thank you if you get the chance.”
Scootaloo slowly returned her gaze back on to Sunset and nodded in understanding. “I will. And … thanks for the help. Also, I just wanted to say sorry again for everything that happened on Mystable. I don’t think we ever apologized in person, so -”
“Don’t,” Sunset interrupted.
Scootaloo stared back in confusion. “Don’t?”
Sunset nodded once. “Don’t apologize for what happened, and don’t thank me for chasing off your new friends back there.”
The smaller girl shook her head in bewilderment. “I don’t understand. You could have gotten hurt for trying to get me out of trouble, so the least I can do is say thanks. And you’re still angry about what we did, right? So why wouldn’t you want an apology?”
“Well first of all, even though I saw what was happening to you, I wasn’t sure if I even cared enough to do anything about it,” Sunset admitted. “I didn't see how it was my problem. I started to walk away and just let them keep going. But then I realized that you were getting attacked because they thought that they were being sneaky and that I’d never find out about what they were doing. I was just sending them a friendly reminder about who's in control, and getting them to leave you alone seemed like the best way to do it at the time. So if anyone’s the hero here, it’s probably Sweetie Belle.”
She walked forward, closing the gap between Scootaloo and herself before returning the girl’s phone. “And as for Anon-a-Miss? Of course I’m still angry, but not so much at you or your friends. Or at least, not as much as I was before.” Sunset took a moment to gather her thoughts before speaking again.
“You three did what all children do when they don’t get their way, which is to throw a big tantrum and make a huge mess that someone else has to clean up. It’s how everyone acted in response to what you three did that I have a problem with,” Sunset explained. “The people who sat back and did nothing except blame me and call it a day, the people who thought the whole thing was funny and encouraged you all to keep going by sending in more fuel for the account …”
And then there were the liars, the students and teachers who looked her in the eye and smiled every single day. They had tricked her into believing that everything was fine while secretly holding on to a long list of grudges that she had assumed that she had been forgiven for. She never said it out loud, but for her, that hurt more than any insult, glare, or physical pain that she had been subjected too.
“Sunset, can I ask you a question?”
The fiery haired teen suddenly snapped her head back up in response. The younger girl’s voice had pulled her away from her thoughts, which was probably a good thing in retrospect. “Shoot,” Sunset answered.
“Well, I watched you beat-up and blackmail Score a few minutes ago. And you just admitted that you’re still angry at most of the school, and you only helped me because you wanted to remind Dumbbell and the others that you were still at the top.” Scootaloo watched Sunset nod, confirming that everything that she had said so far was correct. Frowning a little, Scootaloo pressed on with her question.
“Then, does this mean that the old you is back?”
Sunset almost scoffed at the question. She was a changed woman! Anyone should have been able to see that now, even the idiots who had sided against her during the Anon-a-Miss incident! It was preposterous to even question it!
But if that was true, then why did Scootaloo’s question suddenly have her feeling doubtful? Had she regressed back to who she was before she had encountered Princess Twilight? To be fair, she did just get done using intimidation, blackmail, and physical force to scare Dumbbell, Hoops, and Score into compliance. In the days following her return to CHS after Christmas Break had ended, she hadn’t exactly been what most people would call “friendly” to any of the students that crossed her path. She was even hanging out with Snips and Snails again. Meanwhile, her former friends, the last that she had heard, were slowly starting to drift apart from one another.
Thinking on it now, she realized how all of that would probably look to someone else, as well as the logic behind Scootaloo’s question.
Without meaning too, she had ascended back to her original seat of power on CHS’s social ladder, and had single handedly reset the entire school back to the state that it was in prior to the Fall Formal.
“Well, I guess whether or not I’ve relapsed is up for interpretation. I wouldn’t say that I have, but I can name several people who’d probably say otherwise,” Sunset admitted. “But there is one thing that I do know. The good girl with a big heart, who was looking for atonement, and helped save everyone from becoming the Sirens’ new playthings; she’s gone. From now on, my first and only concern is myself and the small few that I consider to be my friends. I don’t owe anyone else a thing.”
Scootaloo frowned as she did her best to make sense of what she was hearing. Sunset had changed once again. She didn’t consider Sunset to be a tyrant, but she wouldn’t use the word benevolent to describe her either. From her point of view, it sounded as if the girl had given up on everyone outside of her own personal circle, a far cry from who she was before. Even worse for the small girl was knowing that she herself was partially to blame.
The young girl pulled out her phone and saw that she was behind schedule. On a normal day she would have almost been back home by now. She needed to get going, but first, there was one last thing that she wanted to say to the girl who had saved her. “Sunset?” she called out, “I know I’m just a kid and all, and I probably don’t have any right to tell you anything …”
“But?” asked Sunset.
“But,” Scootaloo continued, “I don’t think that you should let what happened at CHS change who you are. You’re better than that. And I still think that you’re a good person, even if you might not think so anymore.” She gave a small nod, and then turned around to leave, only to stop part of the way out and face Sunset once again.
“Oh, and no matter what you say, I’m not taking back what I said before. I really am sorry for what we put you through. And I’m still glad that you helped me out. Even if you weren’t really doing it for my sake, it still doesn’t change the fact that you did end up saving me back there, so, thank you,” she called out one final time. She smiled and waved at Sunset, and then she was gone.
The fiery haired teen didn’t wave back however. Instead she crossed her arms, stood there by herself, and watched as the smaller girl walked away. Sunset eventually turned around and left towards the opposite direction, the same pathway taken by Dumbbell and his friends not too long ago.
‘Don’t let what happened at CHS change who I am,’ Sunset thought to herself as she reached the opposite exit. She quickly tossed out the suggestion, deciding that it was too little too late.
‘And besides, change doesn’t have to be a bad thing.’
Cars sped by in a steady stream as she emerged from the dark alley, and stepped out into the city streets of Canterlot. She squinted her eyes as the evening light was suddenly shining against the side of her face.
‘It can also be a learning experience too.’
She silently continued on her way. With business now officially taken care of, the time had finally come to enjoy herself. It was Friday after all, which meant her usual weekly meetup with Snips and Snails for Game Night.
Sunset smiled to herself.
This time she wasn’t going to lose.
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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Great story dude!
I think you should make more stories related to Anon-A-Miss! I'd love to read them!
I want to see the story continued in one shots, like what happened to the others?
Sunset knows they are drifting apart now, maybe due to the shame of thier sins.
I also want to know how some of the teachers are doing and what ever Sunset meets up with Sci Twi.
Wow! Great work!
An applause to you! very well written and thoroughly enjoyable.
Given all fan spins on this, it's always nice to see a follow up from the original timeline. Concise, to the point, and showed what was needed.
Easy thumbs up. Nice job, man.
8694431
Thanks!
8694538
Lol, tell you what.
If I ever decide to go in for round 3, I'll at least try to add Sci-Twi.
8694791
Cool! Because i only trust Sunset to teach Sci Twi friendship and to make her tough!
Seems the Rainbooms are finished but was brought by thier own stuipity, and i still wodner if Dash's rep is as ruined as Sunset said it was and what damage it did to her career.
8694714
Thanks Uria!
I kinda wish that it had more likes and more comments, but in the end, this is about as well as I expected things to go.
I didn't exactly make this friendly to new readers, and the only ones who could really understand the significance of what I wrote here would be people who read through and enjoyed the previous story.
This was more so meant to be a thank you to returning readers.
8694799
With any luck, maybe I'll expand on that some day.
Looking back, I realize that I left a lot of things up in the air.
For example: What was it that lead to Twilight saving the sirens, what happened between the time that Sunset got back from Winter Break and where this story places in the timeline, what's happening with the h5, and so on and so forth.
The good news is that this leaves me with a lot room to pick as a starting point should I feel like starting things back up again.
8694803
Well I enjoy the story especially sunset clocking score in one hit and you just recently posted likes and comments take time to get
8694825
I'll keep that in mind.
Either way, I'm just happy that I was able to finish writing something again, regardless of how it does.
8694821
YES! I know the others can't harm bloom and Sweetie Bell but in another one shot based off you're story.
Didn;t stop the hate mail she may of gotten and sweetie lost her boyfriend due to what she did.
Hope something simialr happens or they got law suits, minor ones to major ones still cause them a bad rep and damage them further.
no guilt ridden confession happen, the only reason they got exposed was because they were found out, and caught, they were willing to let Sunset die and rot for all they cared.
8694830
Like i said i liked it
8694839
Ah, so, Law Suits and legal matters are a subject that I'm not even gonna pretend to be an expert with, so I've been trying my best to stay away from that.
If I ever go that route then it would have to be after I got some input from someone who actually knows what they're talking about.
Nice, would love to see some more one shots set like this.
Excellent work as always, man. I'd really enjoyed it.
So the question here is... Is the Round Trip going from her "reformed" self back to being the ice queen bee of CHS, or is it going from the disillusioned and broken mess of Anon-a-miss back to someone who's starting to at least somewhat care about people other than herself and her few friends?
8695418
lol, sorry if I kept you waiting
I would really like to seethw epilouge for everyone involved. H5, CMC, students, teachers, and even Princess Twilight and Celestia's reaction.
A sequel series would not be the best idea, but a series of oneshots that take place after, that would be good.
I like this Sunset way more than the pansy that the Rainbitches and Twilight turned her into, too bad she had to get so screwed over by what had happened for her to reach that point. Have a fave my fellow Boktai loving guy
8696202
Taiyoh!
8694791
From discussion elsewhere you know my feelings on how Sci-Twi is the major X factor in Anon-a-Miss stories.
Both to reiterate and let other people know what I'm talking about:
Sci-Twi figured out that CHS was the source at the end of Rainbow Rocks. Events have been set in motion and she's already on her way. She's going to discover the portal, she's going to build her magic capture and sequestration device/pendant/thing, it's going to operate outside of its intended parameters and suck up way more magic than the small samples it was designed for.
These things will happen unless something unexpected (and probably contrived) happens to stop them. So, barring Sci-Twi getting struck with a sudden bolt of, say, laser guided amnesia, any post-Anon-a-Miss world is going to have to face that.
In this universe the Friendship Games have been cancelled and that changes everything except the fact that Sci-Twi is on a collision course with portal magic. In planning out my own sequel I realized that without the Friendship Games forcing everything to happen on one day there was a high probability that, when things went critical, the people necessary to fix the problem wouldn't be in the same place as the problem itself.
Things have the potential to go apocalyptic very fast in that case. (Which is why my original plan for A New Path Forward has been replaced with a plan for two stories. New Path's world may be heading toward a massive magical catastrophe eventually, but that isn't what New Path itself about and so I'm splitting off the Sci-Twi portion into a sequel.)
On the other hand, there's also the possibility that things never go critical at all. Twilight sucks up the magic of the portal, realizes that her device isn't working properly and has a potentially unsafe amount of energy stored in it, takes it back to her lab, and (under conditions as safe as she can make them) sciences the fuck out of everything until she can safely re-release the magic into the place it belongs.
Everything from smooth sailing to the end of the universe is possible, but the one thing that is profoundly unlikely is getting The Friendship Games as shown on screen, even in universes where the games themselves still happen.
8696373 Ankou!
I miss badass Sunset.
8696474
The key thing that changes is whether the others pony up or not, which was where SciTwi got most of her magic from. In FG, they all ponied up representing their Elements, so it’s very likely the most she’ll get is the portal. Top that off that without the pressure to win the Friendship Games (in particular the Cinch blackmail and an overall less capable CHS team) and potential lack of Sunset exploding at her (or even willing to help her study the magic if Sunset gives no shits about the Friendship Games), there’s more than enough things to reasonably prevent any kind of large scale disaster and Twilight unleashing the magic.
i LOVED this
i love any aftermath stories of anon a miss!
i really want to see what else is happening. between the other cmc. the humane 5 and dash!
great follow up! :D
I really like the way you write Sunset. If EQ wasn't aimed for little girls then we would have a very interesting character due to her background and the events through the series. She could be a deep character and it's a shame that we are never showed how she actually tried to redeem herself after the fall formal and how she started to change her personality as well, which is why events like Anon a miss are the most interesting to explore, the old Sunset Shimmer can't disappear that easily.
Unfortunately, you can always expect the "friendship solves everything and most villains are forgivable so they can end as our friends".The final of anon a miss is a complete disaster and the worst was when Sunset ended forgiving the CMC just like that.
I enjoyed a lot your version of that story and I love your Sunset Shimmer, very realistic. I hope she stays like that.
This is a really good way to wrap things up. She hasn’t blindly forgiven anyone, but at the same time hasn’t forgotten what she learn at the Fall Formal. She’s just more decerning about who her friends are and whose opinion matters to her.
Also, if the human 5 could have so easily been broken up in the first place, there was probably a good reason for them not to be friends at all. The CMC seem much a better example of what friends should be, always looking out for each other regardless of cost or circumstance.
Hey Dainn, awesome story, I actually really enjoyed how that went, it felt smooth reading it. The details were there and did great job describing the actions and the scene's playing out. The dialogue and characters thoughts were well structured and easy enough to follow without getting lost.
8696474
That sounds pretty awesome actually
I really enjoyed this story. I hope that Sunset does eventually find her way back to her former friends, but something tells me that it will be a long journey.
The new Sunset here is a sad creature. She has fallen back to her old ways in some manner, but she doesn't have the complete cruelty either. Making it more confusing is that she does seem to still have a big heart, but that is clouded by what happened for good reasons.
Not gonna lie, this Sunset is very intriguing. Hopefully she doesn't fall back into be cruel for cruelty's sake, but the cold efficiency here is admirable... I think? Don't know, hope she ends up warming back up to people one day. Cause right now she is walking a very thin line. Kinda want to see Twilight going through everyone one in person to see how she responds to all of it. Either way this is a good follow up.
Snippets.
Hope not
!
Be honest with yourself Sunset
.
If you keep it from being a bad thing that is
.
Eeyup, that too
.
She'd better not, or this'll all have been for nothing
!
Dainn, this story (and the story it derives from) was a massive inspiration to me, and encouraged myself to write my own Anon-a-Miss tale. Thank you.
I had no idea there was a sequal to my favorite Fanfic! Thank you so much for writing this!!!
I like this.
Brass knuckles? I thought this couldn't get more gratuitous. Geez.
Girl, what are you still doing standing there?
"“But there is one thing that I do know. The good girl with a big heart, who was looking for atonement, and helped save everyone from becoming the Sirens’ new playthings; she’s gone. From now on, my first and only concern is myself and the small few that I consider to be my friends. I don’t owe anyone else a thing.”"
Then you are letting your pain define you than moving on. That isn't a good thing.
"‘Don’t let what happened at CHS change who I am,’ Sunset thought to herself as she reached the opposite exit. She quickly tossed out the suggestion, deciding that it was too little too late.
‘And besides, change doesn’t have to be a bad thing.’"
Except in your case where you are reverting back to form. I would like a sequel where Sunset catches snips and snails talking with one of the rainbooms and realizing she does miss them.
nice work