Deep, Dark Woods
“We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and a presumption that once our eyes watered.”
― Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
This should have been done a month ago 
Thanks for all the great comments and support!
Also, there was a clue to where this story is headed, and it's right there in the title 
“Though the winter brings all its cold and storm,” Sunset murmured to herself, glancing up through the dark branches overhead, the snow drifting down from dark gray clouds. “The glow in our hearts keeps us warm…”
The words had surfaced up through her wandering mind as she walked deeper and deeper into the woods, an old familiar song from when she was a filly. Perhaps it was because this place felt so eerily like home. The world around her was wonderfully quiet, just her soft footsteps and the almost silent hush of falling snow.
Despite the biting cold and the fast approaching night, she found herself content, almost eager. She had no real plan, much like when she had first arrived in that strange world. After leaving the journal with the younger girls, Sunset had snuck out of school to her apartment, grabbed her most important possessions, stuffed them into her school backpack, and left the key under the mat. If she was lucky, no one would notice she was missing until after winter break was over, and by then she planned to be too far away to find.
A fresh start.
That promise kept her moving forward along the narrow road, half-buried under wet autumn leaves and old gray snow. It must lead to somewhere, she reasoned, and figured if she found a farmhouse or shack along the way, she could stay there for the night. Eventually she must come to a city or a town; the road must lead somewhere. She wasn’t particular—as long as it was where people didn’t know her.
When Sunset heard the truck rumbling up behind her on the winding little road through the woods, she actually thought she was in luck. Maybe she could catch a ride to a new town, or maybe find a warm bed for the night, even a warm meal. She hadn’t expected Applejack to lean out the window, waving her hat and shouting her name. Sunset stopped, glaring as the truck lumbered to a halt, brakes whining before Applejack burst out the driver’s door.
“Sunset Shimmer, there you are! Where‘ve ya been, we’ve been looking everywhere for ya!” Applejack shouted, hurrying towards her with both relief and annoyance.
“What are you doing here?” Sunset said, clutching her hands into tight fists. After the wonderful sense of calm that had stayed with her all afternoon, this sudden rush of anger sat heavy in her stomach.
“I’m here looking for you, of course.” Applejack peered up at the darkening clouds, blinking against the snow in her eyes before brushing them away. “Come on, I’ll give ya a ride home, everyone’s been awful worried—“
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” she said shortly, just managing to hold back the fury that was building within her.
Applejack frowned at her, puzzled. “Well ya can’t walk back in this weather." She glanced at the dark road ahead. "Where do ya think you’re even going?”
“It doesn’t matter, it’s none of your concern.”
“Wha… Sunset we were all worried—“
“Oh, don’t give me that crap!” she spat, and oh yes, there was the anger. “It’s too late to pretend, so just stop!”
Applejack had the gall to look hurt, and Sunset felt a small twinge of guilt. However, it helped that she also looked annoyed. “I’m just trying ta help—“
“Well I didn’t ask for your help!”
Applejack’s shoulders stiffened beneath her heavy jacket but didn’t say anything, and Sunset suddenly wished she would so she could keep shouting. But instead Sunset took a deep breath and then let it out slowly, felt some of the tension slip away. Somewhere within her must be some of that calm from earlier, she just had to find it.
Opening her eyes, she looked more critically at Applejack, and back to the truck.
“How did you even know where to find me?” Sunset said suspiciously.
“We didn’t,” Applejack said, somewhat relieved to have an answer. “We’ve been searching everywhere for hours. Applebloom and her friends came to us at lunch in a panic, almost in tears and saying you were leaving and that they thought you were in trouble. They gave us your journal—“
“I told them to wait until after school,” Sunset muttered.
“Well we saw it and—“
“Wait, did they say anything else?”
“Uh… no? Were they supposed to?” Applejack said, looking perplexed.
“No, forget it,” Sunset murmured. So her friends all still thought her as Anon-A-Miss. Great. Just like she wanted, she reminded herself.
“Yeah, uh… anyway, we all agreed to skip class to go lookin’ for ya. Principal Celestia even caught us sneaking out but—“
“Why?” Sunset said, cutting her off again.
“Wha-seriously?” Applejack said, genuinely shocked. “Because we were worried! What in tarnation do you think we’d do when you run off and leave us nothing but a goodbye note? And we thought maybe you went back through the portal except you wrote to Twilight, too, something like, this’ll be my last letter.”
“That wasn’t meant for you,” Sunset grumbled.
“Well, what did ya expect us to do?”
“I expected you to leave me alone. Obviously.” She gritted her teeth and then added under her breath, “It’s what you were doing anyway.”
Applejack sighed, rubbing her forehead. “Listen here, we’re all awful upset about all this, but we’re not gonna sit by and let you run off to get hurt or worse.”
“Oh, as if you care!” Sunset said furiously, trying to clamp down on those emotions threatening to surge forth. “You all made it perfectly clear that I’m no longer your friend, so don’t act like any of you give a damn!”
“Well…” Applejack paused, biting her lip. “Yeah, we were all pretty angry, but we thought that—“
“You thought what? That I betrayed all of you? Well you know what, fine!” Sunset spun to face her, flinging her arms wide. “You’re right, it was me. I’m Anon-A-Miss. I’m the one who’s been posting those secrets of everyone. I betrayed you, and Rarity, and Fluttershy, and all of our friends. Okay? There. There’s your truth. So leave me alone.”
Sunset waited to see if the other girl would yell, or stomp away, or say something awful that she needed to hear—something that would make her hurt. Instead Applejack just stood there, frowning and not saying a word. Sunset almost wished she might hit her and get it over with, but she didn’t even do that. In a long low swoop the anger left, and Sunset felt cold.
Shaking her head, Sunset turned and continued down the long, empty road. After a moment she heard fading steps in the old snow, and when she looked back, Applejack was walking to the truck. She was leaving.
Good, she tried to tell herself. It was for the best. One more bridge burned. Now her old friends could be free of her with a clean conscious. There came the sound of the truck’s front door creaking open, then a few second later it shut with a bang.
Sunset stopped, staring at her boots, then let out a sigh. Now she really was on her own. Then she heard crunching footsteps again and was surprised to see Applejack hurrying towards her, the only difference was a thick scarf around her neck.
“What are you doing?” Sunset said angrily. “Didn’t you hear me?”
“I heard ya. But I ain’t about to let ya walk off into a snowstorm.”
Sunset gave a disbelieving huff. “Don’t be stubborn. It’s just a little snow, I’ll be fine. Just go home.”
“Nothing doing, sugarcube.”
When Sunset started walking again, Applejack kept at her side. It was getting darker, the clouds deepening to a deep gray, and the woods around them turning almost-black. Snow fell in soft clumps from the hanging boughs overhead.
“Ya wanna talk about it?” Applejack said after a dozen paces.
“What’s there to talk about,” Sunset grumbled, hitching her backpack higher. “You all think I’m a traitor. A no-good demon. Just like everyone else.”
There was a steady silence, and Sunset had to repress the urge to either yell or cry, and hurriedly swiped at the corner of her eyes where it burned.
Applejack finally sighed, a long drawn out sound that made her breath steam. “Honestly I don’t know what ta think anymore.”
Sunset didn’t know what to think, either. It was easier when she could leave in peace, knowing she was doing the right thing for everyone. It would have been better to be alone.
"It’s been pretty miserable without ya,” Applejack went on, her eyes low. “Things haven’t been the same. The whole’s school’s been feeling awful, but…”
“You’ll get over it,” Sunset snapped. “You’ll all be a lot happier without me.”
“Ya really think that?”
“Augh! Just stop. Stop with all this... this pretending, like any of it was actually real. As if we were ever really friends.”
“Hey, just cause we had a fight doesn’t change the fact we were friends,” Applejack said, affronted. “It don’t change the past.”
"That’s not what I’m talking about and you know it.”
“No, actually, I don’t.”
Sunset stopped and threw down her backpack to turn and look her straight in the eye.
“I’ll just say it, then. You were only my friends because you had to be. Because Twilight asked you. I was just a little pity project for you, and that’s all I ever was. The truth is…” She hesitated, her throat suddenly painful. “the truth is that none of you ever actually wanted me as a friend.”
“What?”
“And I get it,” Sunset went on, not daring to look at her, having never spoken these thoughts aloud. “I was horrible to you, you had no reason to ever be nice to me, but you were. And I know that you all suffered more for being close to me, I get it. You shouldn’t have your friends forced on you.”
“You think we only became friends with you because someone told us to? Really?”
“Come on Applejack,” Sunset said, not believing the innocent act for a second. “If Twilight hadn’t asked, would any of you had given me a second chance?”
“Yeah, we would have.”
“Be serious!” she shouted, wanting to hit something. “After everything I did? After how many people I hurt? Why would any of you befriend me after seeing me as a demon, as the girl who nearly destroyed the school. I tried to kill you!”
“I’m telling ya the truth!” Applejack said, hands clenched at her side.
“No. Really ask yourself,” Sunset said in a low harsh voice. “Think back and tell me you wouldn’t have done it differently. Really think.”
Applejack stared at her, breathing hard, and then closed her eyes. For a long minute there was only the soft sound of snow and wind, the woods darkening fast around them. Finally she opened her eyes.
“No matter what Twilight said, I would have tried to be friends with you.”
“Bullshit!”
“Just listen to me—“
“Like how you all listened to me, right?”
“Will ya quit jumping down my throat every second!” Applejack snapped, then breathed heavy for a moment, waiting while Sunset bit her tongue, before continuing, “Now, I can’t speak for the others, but back then I saw what others were doing to ya after the Fall Formal, even when you were trying to do better. I wasn’t gonna stand by and let them bully you.”
“But you’ll happily stand by and let me bully me now, is that it?” Sunset said, the accusation sharp and quick on her tongue.
Applejack’s green eyes widened, and Sunset could see the realization strike her.
Then Sunset had her own realization. These girls, her friends… they had already saved her, and not just once. They’d already tried, and suffered for it. Was she being selfish for wanting them to keep trying? Especially when none of them ever wanted to be her friend in the first place?
Sunset subconsciously rubbed her cheek, thinking back to the first day after the Fall Formal. Sunset had tried apologizing to another girl for something she had done, something cruel. But a few words couldn’t fix what she had caused, and the other student had slapped her hard—for days she would gingerly touch it and dwell on how much it hurt. It had been Applejack to defend her and help pick her off the ground. It had been the first kind thing anyone had done for her after that awful night.
She caught Applejack staring at her hand and dropped it.
Applejack looked away, but not before the look of pain crossed her face. “Sunset, I—“
“Don’t. I don’t need to hear it.” She sighed, pulling deep from her lungs, and the simple act of that left her feeling worn and empty. Without that hot anger, she remembered again how much it hurt to be losing all of them as friends. “You’re right. I shouldn’t keep expecting you or the others to save me. You’ve done enough. I... I'm trying to do the right thing, for all of you. It's okay. You don't need to do this anymore."
“That’s not… I know things were definitely crazy back then, but I swear I’m telling ya the truth. I wanted to be your friend, even after all that happened at the Formal, I wanted to give you another chance. It wasn’t pretend.”
Sunset grit her teeth, wanting to argue more, but she was also tired, and sick at heart, and the wind was blowing cold through the trees.
“Whatever. Believe that if you want, but it doesn’t matter. Because we’re not friends anymore.”
Applejack opened her mouth, but no words came out. She looked down at the snow, and Sunset felt a stab of guilt that surprised her. It was their own fault, she reminded herself. They’re the ones who ended it. They’re the ones who betrayed her and refused to listen, no matter her tears. Suddenly she wished she could be angry again. The pain was harder to bear.
Sunset turned away, unable to meet her eyes. “Just go home, Applejack.”
From behind she heard a soft, “Dangit!” and glanced over to see Applejack trotting back to the far-off car. The next minute she wasn’t surprised, although certainly annoyed, to hear the groan of the engine grow closer, pass her a little, and then stop. Not thirty seconds later Applejack was walking at her side again, looking thoughtful as Sunset fumed into her jacket collar, wondering how long she planned to keep this up.
“Ya wanna hear something dumb?” Applejack said lightly, as if they might be discussing the weather.
“No.”
“It’s kinda funny. This whole time, we, or I did at least, uh… I thought you didn’t want to be our friend. I thought you hated us.”
“What?” Sunset said, turning sharply to look at her. “Why would I hate you?”
“What kinda—of course you might hate us!” Applejack said, flabbergasted. “We were the ones who helped stop you at the Fall Formal and ruined all your big plans. If we hadn’t stood up to you then, well, maybe you would have won. Taken over the world or whatever. For a time, I really thought you were still mad about that. Blamed us and all.”
Sunset went quiet for a long moment.
“I actually never looked at it like that.”
“Really?” It was Applejack’s turn to be in disbelief.
“After the Fall Formal, I… I could barely feel anything. I was more disappointed and angry at myself. And never in my life had I felt so alone. I didn’t expect you girls to actually be nice to me. Almost afraid of it. But I never blamed you.”
It was odd, talking about it with Applejack out there in the woods. She had never spoken about this with anyone. It all seemed a very long time ago, or perhaps another existence.
“Really? Huh. I thought…”
“What?”
“Well, I thought you might still be angry at us, deep down, even after all we’ve been through. But then time passed and the Dazzlings happened, and still you were always there for us, even when the rest of the school thought we were crazy to trust you. But then when this whole Anon-A-Miss thing happened, I thought, well… maybe I’d misjudged you, and you really didn’t ever mean to be our friends. Like none of it mattered.” There was a pause, Applejack’s voice slipping lower, and she kept her gaze to the dirty snow at their feet. “I’ll tell ya, that? That hurt far worse than any stupid nickname.”
Sunset was quiet, thinking over that, and thinking how she knew exactly how that felt. To feel betrayed, like none if it had been real.
“So we both thought the other was just faking it, huh?” Sunset looked upward at the falling snow. “You’re right, that is pretty dumb.”
Applejack let out a snort of laughter, and the sound relaxed her a little. Just a very little.
“So we were never actually friends,” Sunset said. “That makes things easier. You can go home, now.”
“Dangit!” Applejack said, letting out a huff. “That ain’t what I meant and you know it!“
Sunset was about to speak—or, rather, argue some more—but was distracted by a pale light shining in her eyes and the rumble of another car careening down the road and honking.
“About time,” Applejack muttered.
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Great update.
Yay! Can't wait for more!
They just can't leave her alone can they? This is going to end in Tears, nothing but Tears.
Wonder if it’s a carpool or if they will continue to trickle in.
Twas a long wait, but worth it. Good stuff!
GOT DAMMIT THEY BETTER FESS UP ALREADY!
They have no excuse either they chose to believe Sunset betrayed them and turned their backs on her.
Love how no matter much progress AJ gets through Sunset, Sunset is too stubborn as hell to go home with her & the same goes with AJ trying to get her in the truck.
I wasn't expecting to have tearful confessions out there in the woods so soon. I'm pleasantly surprised.
The most stubborn of sunsets five friends is the one that finds her and stalls her, keeping sunset from leaving before the others show up. That is priceless.
If this keeps up this could be one of tnoae rare, really good Anon-A-Miss stories that dise not force people to be out of character inorder to work. Keep it up mate!
You accidentally some quotation marks.
This was pretty great! I was merely optimistic before, but now I'm much more actively looking forward to seeing the rest of this.
The hypocrisy is strong with Applejack. Couldn't help but notice how she kept dodging the fact that she's part of the reason Sunset's leaving.
9451949
This is already one of my favourite AaM works.
This was really enjoyable. I can tell you put a lot of care into this, especially regarding Sunset's thoughts between lines of dialogue. Keep up the great work!
9451943
Ooh, good eye! Thanks for letting me know, already fixed!
Glad to hear the chapter worked! We've got 3 more chapters after this, don't want it to ramble on forever, and hope you keep reading
OH COME ON!
it ends like that!?
i want to see this continued to see whats happening!
was applejack going complete self righteous stuck up bitch supposed to make us feel sunset should forgive her? because honestly it feels like sunset should have slapped her several times in that conversation and left, AJ's made no arguments to make us feel any sympathy for her and just looks like a bigger asshole now then before.
I’m really enjoying this story and this chapter was especially enjoyable. The back and forth between Sunset and Applejack about whether the other truly wanted to be friends and feeling betrayed by the other is very interesting. Excellent choice in it being stubborn Applejack to find Sunset first, if it was the stubborn Rainbow Dash, I bet they would have gotten into a fist fight before having a heart to heart.
It’s also great to see that despite them still believing she’s Anon-A-Mis, the Rainbooms were still very worried about Sunset and risked getting caught skipping school just to go find her. Despite Sunset’s fake confession, Applejack doesn’t fully believe her and instead doesn’t know what to think anymore.
Looking forward to the next chapter, keep up the good work!
I truly really loved this chapter. The emotion was real and conveyed perfectly.
Adding onto Eternal Sunsets comment. I would kinda like to see at least one slap or punch get thrown by someone lol
9452818
Yes there needs to be at least one punch or slap thrown
9452972
I think such a physical action might even make things feel even more emotional. Maybe only with the "appropriate" party though, such as Applejack or Rainbow, maybe a slap to or from Rarity.
9452530
Couldn't have said it better myself. Only include that this isn't our story to write so...
I made a tiny miscalculation
AJ just please don't be a dick
is that better people
This was worth the wait. The way you handled the back and forth between Aj and Sunset is a lot more mature than most, without ignoring the full hurt and confusion between them. Looking forward to the next update.
You know I personally would like to see a story that shows an ending where she goes with them and one where she doesn't, like if she does go back does she fully trust them or always keep them at arms length knowing they had so little faith in her, and if she leaves does she make new friends somewhere else, maybe goes by a new name and starts a whole new life, and if so is she happy and maybe goes back one day to confront her past, I mean I just like how there could be so many ways this could end and I think it would be nice to see the different ways your sunset could take this story
9473295
Hooo boy this is a late reply (I got weirdly nervous after posting this chapter and then couldn't look at the page again XD) but you're absolutely right!
In fact... I ended up creating an alternative to this story already, where instead of going through the woods, Sunset catches a bus to the city and runs into Sci Twi. Not sure if I'll ever get around to writing it, but there really are so many ways to take this story. This one is already all figured out and I'm very pleased with the ending, especially the 'epilogue' chapter.
Now I just need to... keep working on it
and then Applejack shoved her in front of the car, she died of blunt force trauma and everyone lived happily ever after, especially AJ, and the driver RD, who will be rotting on death row for four months before their public hanging for killing an esteemed member of Equestrian society!
9533736 Cool to know, and I will be waiting for baited breath for that one, as well as the remaining three chapters of this one.
I desire more pain and misery.
Feed me.
More please, don't stop now!
More more more more more!
Please continue!!!!!
9782449
Right! I should!! .... keep working on it.
Got stuck halfway through the chapter, nothing was working, but a few days ago I think I hit the breakthrough I needed!
Thanks for the encouragement! (a kick in the butt is always what I need to keep going)
9782738
YEY!!!!!
9782738
Keep goING I need to know who came!
9842037
Oh... yeah.... wow I actually forgot the readers don't know who's coming
Welp! Now that the contest entry is done and submitted, this one is next!
9842911
Awesome!
*jeopardy music plays*
9868418
Your answer is:
''When is the next chapter.''
And you bet.....
9875927
7,000
Ooh the suspense, who's it gonna be?
9782738
Well?
9842911
Looking forward to it.