8. Broken Laughter
Sunset continued to follow Rebecca as they entered the school. Sunset eyed the interior of the school as she walked by, feeling more and more horrified of how different her school was after Cinch has taken control. Everything inside had many shades of blue, including walls, doors, floors, lockers, the list goes on. Everything that represents CHS or the Wondercolts like banners and awards had been replaced with everything that has Crystal Prep or Shadowbolts on them. There were also many different pictures of Cinch on the walls as if they're here as a reminder of who runs the school.
And I thought Rainbow Dash or Trixie have an overinflated egos! Sunset thought as she eyed the area with an uneasily look.
She then noticed the students who were in the hallway. To her surprise and horror, they were all the same students from CHS, except each and every one of them were now wearing Crystal Prep uniforms. She recognized almost every single one of them, despite how different they looked.
She noticed Vinyl Scratch (aka DJ Pon-3) was more classy looking with a ponytail instead of her DJ getup and not wearing her signature glasses, Sandalwood now has a short hair and without his beanie hat and Bulk Biceps was now overweight and no longer have massive muscles.
But what they all have in common though, was that they all have uncaring, yet miserable expressions on their faces. Everyone would either act indifferent or hostile towards another student; like how Lyra and Bonbon sneered to each other as they crossed paths, despite that these two are supposed to be best friends. Flash (Sunset's old boyfriend), who looked like a geek due to his glasses, was seen shoved around by some random students without a single utter of apology. Sunset remembered everything Twilight's had told her about how awful the school was with Cinch in charge, but to see it in person, that was a whole new level.
"I can't believe this!" said Sunset with widened eyes. "Everyone I know is acting so cold from one another! It's a complete opposite of how we usually treat one another at CHS! How could Cinch let this happen? Doesn't she care about the students well-being?"
"She doesn't care how the students were feeling, if they're suffering or all the friendships she destroyed," said Rebecca with a grunt. "Just as long she gets the best results from the students skills and help boost her "reputation", that's all that matters to her!"
"But that's not right!" Sunset replied, disgusted with how Cinch runs the place. "While it's one thing to improve one's academic skills, but not at a cost to their happiness and friendship!"
As Sunset voiced her frustration, she failed to notice a person in front of her. As a result, she accidentally bumped into that person, nearly sending that person to the floor.
“Hey! Watch where you’re going buster!” The person snapped out of annoyance.
“Oh, I'm so sorry!" Sunset exclaimed. "I didn’t mean to–”
When Sunset got a good look of the person she just bumped into, Sunset nearly gasped in shock.
“P… Pinkie Pie?”
That person was indeed Pinkie Pie, the party loving and happiest friend she knows, but there was something way off about her friend. For starters, Pinkie was now wearing a Crystal Prep uniform just like the rest of the students. Instead of Pinkie's signature poofy and curly hair, it was all flat and deflated. But what really stood out the most was Pinkie's deep frown on her face.
And Pinkie rarely frowns.
“How– how do you know me!?" Pinkie demanded with a surprised expression. "Are you psychic?”
Sunset shook her head. “Pinkie... it’s me! Sunset!”
Pinkie blinked, but still had a frown on her face. “Sunset? Friend? Impossible! I don’t have friends!”
Sunset nearly fell over in shock. She couldn't believe that Pinkie, possibly the most extroverted person on the planet, never have any friends!
“What do you mean Pinkie?” Sunset exclaimed. “You have six best friends, including me! And you have over a thousand friends on MyStable for Celestia's sake! You even threw a party for Wallflower about a week ago!”
Pinkie was starting to feel annoyed with the bacon-haired antics. She then went up to Sunset's face and narrowed her eyes into hers.
“Okay first of all, I. Don’t. Have. Friends!" She growled. "And second, I don’t do parties! They’re a waste of time! And third… you’re crazy!”
Sunset immediately stepped away from her angry friend. “No, I’m not crazy Pinkie!" Sunset cried desperately. "We’ve been friends for a couple of years now! And how could you think parties are a waste of time? You love parties, especially that you’re doing all of that to make people happy! Heck, just seeing you laughing about anything puts a smile on everyone’s face, including me!”
“Stop it! Just stop it!” Pinkie shouted angrily, getting everyone's attention in the process. “You listen here lady, I don’t know who you are or how do you know my name, but just… stay away from me! And if you think laughing and partying is going to help you make friends, DON’T!" Her eyes then welled up. "From my experience, it doesn’t bring you joy or friends! It only brings you loneliness and miserably!”
Sunset felt her heart ache for seeing her friend so upset. She then tried to reach out to her.
“Pinkie, that’s not true! You–”
But Pinkie slapped her hand away.
“LEAVE ME ALONE!” She screamed as she rushed past her and ran down the hallway, leaving behind her trail of tears.
“Wait Pinkie!” Sunset shouted as she tried to chase after her. “Don’t–”
Unfortunately, Sunset wasn’t able to follow Pinkie when she felt a strong grip on her shoulder. Sunset turned with an angry look, thinking it was Rebecca who stopped her, only her face went pale when it was actually another person who stopped her.
It was Pinkie's older sister, Maud Pie and had that same blank expression on her face. However, instead of her usual frock, she was wearing a leather jack over her Crystal Prep uniform, a black hairband with spikes around her hair to keep it into a ponytail and she even have huge arm muscles.
“I believe my sister said for you to leave her alone!” Maud stated in her deadpan tone. “Now will you complied with her wishes or are you going to have to deal with me?”
Sunset gulped, she can tell that Maud was actually serious with her threat. The fact that Maud still threatened her in her usual stoic self and that she was staring right through her to her soul really made her feel uneasy. Before she could respond, Rebecca finally intervened.
“So sorry about that!” said Rebecca in a cheery tone, despite the situation. “I’ll make sure she won’t bother your sister anymore! Count on it!”
Maud still stared Sunset a moment longer before turning to Rebecca. “...very good,” she said. “You have a nice day.”
Maud slowly turned around and walked down the hallway before disappearing into the crowd. As soon as Maud was gone and there was no longer any drama, the students went back to their own business like nothing ever happened. Sunset let out a breath that she didn't know how long she was holding and felt her sweat trailing down her head. Rebecca let out a sigh.
“That was a close one," she said. "Despite her aggressiveness, it's nice to know that Maud is still looking after her little sister.”
That was her being aggressive!? Sunset exclaimed in thought as she rapidly shook her head.
“I… I don’t understand! Pinkie Pie is the most energetic and the happy-go-lucky person I’ve ever known! It was her life's mission to make people happy, even when someone is having a bad day. Even if someone was being rude to her, she almost never lost her smile. But just now... she was all... sad, grouchy… and miserable!”
Rebecca let out a sigh with a grim expression. “Just because she always appeared to be a happy, that doesn’t mean that she’s always happy. While it is true that she’s a major extrovert and loves to make friends, but deep down… poor Pinkie Pie felt very insecure with herself for being annoying.”
Sunset gave Rebecca a look of disbelief. “What? That’s ridiculous! She’s not annoying!”
Rebecca simply cocked her eyebrow while giving Sunset a skeptic look.
“...well okay, she can be annoying sometimes," Sunset admitted. "But she’s still a wonderful person and I wouldn’t trade her for anything!”
Rebecca nodded. “I’m glad that you think that way about her friend, but Pinkie doesn’t always think herself so highly. Do you remember when you first arrived at CHS after you fled from your world?”
Sunset nearly cringed from how she acted to her former mentor from that, but kept her composure as she recalled after arriving to the human world for the first time.
“Y-yeah… I remember,” she whispered. “It was during Freshman Fair when I was still getting used to my surroundings. Most of the students there was nervous about entering High School for the first time or meeting new people, but me… I was nervous of entering a whole new world and I didn’t even have a clue as to where I am or anything about this world! I was even having second thoughts and wanted to go back to Equestria, even if I’m going to get locked up by Princess Celestia.”
“That is until you met Pinkie Pie, right?” Rebecca questioned.
"...yeah," Sunset answered. "She just came right out of nowhere when I was in deep thought. I was perturbed and annoyed with her at first for trying to befriend me, but when she offered to help me out by showing me around the school and the city, I decided to take her offer. Although admittedly, I was using her to map out the area and learn about the people in my school for my long-term plan of taking over this world and Equestria and then I broke up her friends by stealing her phone.” Sunset looked down in shame. “I’m… not very proud of that and I’m still guilty for using her. I thought she hated me and didn't want to have anything to do with me again, but to my surprise, she didn’t hold any grudges towards me and was the first to support me. We became friends for real after that.” Sunset then smiled fondly. “She even went out of her way to cheer me up and make me smile everyday during my rough times after the Fall Formal… and she still does today.”
“Sounds to me that even though you were using her for your own selfish intentions back then, deep down, you already considered her your friend,” Rebecca commented. “And believe it or not, your first encounter with Pinkie was important to her too… more than you know!”
Sunset blinked. “What do you mean?”
“As I mentioned earlier," Rebecca lectured. "Pinkie was a very insecure person… and still kinda is now. She hated to be alone, especially if a friend decided to ditch her and not be friends with her anymore.”
Sunset shivered at the memory of a time she and her friends planned a surprise birthday party for Pinkie, which took them weeks of planning. They tried to avoid Pinkie or dodge her questions so that she doesn't spoil her surprise. But in doing so, they unknowingly made Pinkie upset and lonely due to their actions. She even went as far as to throw her own party and used rocks and a bucket of turnips as party guests. It took them a while to convince her that they're not kicking her out of her group, but Sunset still shivered at the thought of Pinkie's crazed smile due to her "episode".
“Yeaaaaaaaah, I know what you mean," Sunset uttered before frowning. "But what does that have to do with anything?”
"Back when you two were Freshmen, she was a lot more sensitive when it comes to meeting people," Rebecca explained. "Entering High School was the biggest moment of her life and she was actually nervous about meeting new people. So she decided to try to befriend anyone she meets in hopes to make her first friend. But because of her, um… expressive personality, many were too scared or weirded out to go near her. All except for…”
Sunset eyes widened, finally connecting the dots. “Me! Until she met... me!”
Rebecca nodded. “Right! Because you gave her a chance, you boosted up her confidence of meeting more people to gain more friends, which are the very same friends you have today! And despite your “history”, you are still very important to Pinkie because not only you are her first friend, but you also didn’t mind her for being herself!” Rebecca frowned sadly. “But without you… Pinkie never met a single person who wanted to be her friend to the point that she gave up on herself and lost her happiness… and becoming a sad, miserable and grouchy young lady you saw just now.”
“I… I had no idea,” Sunset spoke softly, now seeing Pinkie in a whole new light. “But… this is still hard to believe that Pinkie would act this way, especially that I had something to do with it!”
“Sometimes, even if it's a tiniest thing we've done to one person… ended up making a huge impact on their lives,” said Rebecca in a soft tone as she began walking down the hall. “Now come, we’re heading to the gym. We're going to see another one of your friends!”
“Wait… you mean there’s more?” Sunset exclaimed in horror. “Is… is me not existing in this world really affects my friends?"
“I won’t sugarcoat this Sunset," Rebecca warned with a sigh. "Throughout our little trip, you will see just how each of your friends’ lives would be like without you around. And each one will be worse than the last! What you just saw what happened to Pinkie Pie… barely scratched the surface!”
Poor Pinkie! 
I bet none of you are expecting Sunset to see her first, didn't ya? Who will be the next friend Sunset is going to see?
Find out... next time.
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.....I'm starting to lose interest since Cinch is so prominent in this.
10043722
Well she IS the main antagonist in this story, but patience my friend...
...it will be worth it in due time.
10043749
.....Pm me and tell me if she Dies in the end. (I hope the answer is YES.)
alicorn twilight for last?
10043752
Well, I'd settle for a couple of decades in prison at hard labor. As despicable as she is, none of her crimes have reached death-penalty level. But two decades in a maximum security prison at hard labor? They DEFINITELY reached THAT level.
10043797
Most likely. Though Sci-Twi will probably be SECOND-to-last as she would likely have either committed suicide or turned full-blown super-villain (of the mad scientist variety) with literally NO friends other than Spike.
Whoa, mama. Excellent job on this latest chapter. The exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up are all well done in all the right places. I have to admit, I never thought Sunset inspired (this version of) Pinkie THAT much, but it makes more sense than it should. And, yeah, as hard as it is (emotionally) to read through all of this, it is just making me look forward to seeing Cinch and the Dazzlings go down hard even more.
And, yikes, each is WORSE than the last? That thought alone gives me the shivers. I have my theories, but I'll keep quiet about most of them to minimize spoilers.
But at any rate, I'll certainly be looking forward to more of this.
Rainbow Dash or Applejack are going to be next, I just know it.
I don't Like this Pinkie, I want Funny and good Pinkie.
10043871
seeing how derpy turned out but this is not rated m or t then suicide is off the table so better go with mad scientist or the worst thing that could happen to her that the tag would allow to happen to her.
Why didn't you reply to my comment?
Awh noo, poor Pinkie! It's only the beginning, Sunset. You've got five more friends to see. Oh gosh...
I have a feeling either applejack or rainbow dash will be the next ones and it's obvious now sunset will be seeing what happened to all her friends if she was never born and after just seeing the way pinkie act to sunset just gives me flashbacks to forgotten friendship due to how much she was actoring towards sunset and the similarities since the special broke my heart. Also is since I have feelings for sunset as you can tell by my profile pic that isn't a pic of my favorite steam locomotive
10043749
I WILL KILL CINCH!!!!!!
I suspect that in this universe, Anon-a-Miss (still the CMC) are Cinch's personal informants.
10043970
We all do, man. You're not the only one who wanted the REAL HER back.
Due to questions I've got from readers, I included a brief scene about Flash Sentry's fate in Broken Laughter chapter.
One thing that does not make sense here is that Bulk would be overweight since Crystal Prep seems to pride itself on physical skill, great story and it could be explained she still made them weaker than her own school but I felt it needed to be said.
I just read this chapter again as I read this whole story before and this was a real eye opener. After reading what the inside of the school looks like I would honestly spray paint everyone of those stupid paintings that have Cinch on it or cut them up with an ax. But I was shocked to see what had happen to the students of CHS that Sunset knew. Vinly and Sandalwood most likely became stuck up stiff's! Bulk Biceps has become overweight? Flash has become a wimpy nerd? Lyra and Bon Bon hate each other?!
This is all just not right and honestly I find it hard to see three of the people I mentioned turn out how they did but considering who is now running the school I shouldn't be surprised. But the biggest shock of all to this chapter is with how Pinkie Pie turned out. I will admit I am not a fan of Pinkie Pie as even I find her annoying and yes I will admit stupid at times but deep down she is a wonderful person who only wants to spred cheer. As for Maud I'm sure Sunset could have taken her in a fight but that's just me. But Maud is cool and I would never wish her harm.
I can also believe on what Rebecca said about Sunset never being born. While it was true that Sunset had used her in the past the two grew together as friends and Pinkie did some good things for Sunset even after the Fall Formal.
But now I see that without Sunset Pinkie Pie is just an angry and miserable girl who hates party's and is unwilling to open up to anyone because of her insecurities.
I honestly want to punch Cinch and the Dazzlings in the face right now with a pair of spiked brass knuckles until their faces are bloody and broken. This has been an excellent chapter and I will be on to the next one soon.
Good Luck Sonicfan05.
oh no