Equestria Girls HATRED Special

Twilight Sparkle, Spike, the Humane Five, the Crusaders, and Trixie had had followed the shining star to a very strange location. They were practically in the middle of nowhere; the only house in the area was at the bottom of a hill, surrounded by trees. But that was convenient, that had to be where Sunset Shimmer was staying.

“Here we are!” Pinkie Pie said excitedly, and then she pointed to the house. “There, that’s got to be where Sunset is.”

“One way to find out.” Rainbow Dash said with determination.

Twilight, Spike, the Humane Five, and the Crusaders disembarked from Trixie’s car.

“If you don’t mind, Trixie, would like to get back to the others and see if she can get some help searching these woods incase Sunset's not in that house if that’s okay?” Trixie asked politely. In truth, there was something about this place that gave her the creeps. After the horrific event she witnessed recently, she felt it was a good idea to follow her instincts from now on.

“Okay, you know where to find us.” Pinkie said in her usual happy tone.

“Just don’t be late.” Rarity said demandingly. “I can’t imagine why Sunset Shimmer would want to live in a place like this.”

Fluttershy put her hand to her pocket, the one containing the present she almost threw away, “Let’s hope we can make things right.”

Sunset Shimmer was in the living room, sitting in a chair, and reading a book. Since she couldn’t get the TV to work she decided to read something and it was proving to be more entertaining than watching television. Then she heard a knocking at the front door. She closed the book, set it down on a coffee table, got up and started walking toward the door. “I wonder if he’s back yet.” She thought hoping the knocking was Not Important returning from his ‘errands.’ But when she answered it, she was surprised to see a group of people she thought she would never see again. When they saw her, huge smiles formed on all of their faces.

“Sunset!” Twilight was the first to say with joy, and gave her friend an unexpected hug.

“Twilight?” Sunset was still surprised and confused. “What are you doing here?”

They all stepped inside and sat in the living room, there Twilight explained, “When I received your last journal entry I knew you were in serious trouble and I couldn’t let this go on any longer, I knew I had to do something. But by the time I got here, you were already gone. Luckily, I was able to find you with some help.” And she turned her head toward the Humane Five who were looking a little nervous now.

“You helped look for me?” Sunset asked the Humane Five, “But you said-.”

“Yeah, Twilight was finally able to talk some sense into us.” Rainbow Dash said with some regret in her voice.

“And the real Anon-a-Miss confessed.” Pinkie Pie added.

“Was it those three?” Sunset asked turning to the three guilty-looking little girls.

“How did you know that?” Rarity asked surprised.

“I’ve been thinking. Applejack, you said you’ve never told anyone about your ‘Piggly Wiggly’ story but us right?”

“Yeah.” Applejack answered.

“I’m pretty sure there were a few other people who knew about it before us.”

“Well, the only other people who knew were mah fam- mah family!” Applejack suddenly realized what Sunset was trying to say. “Why didn’t ah think of that before?!”

“And Dash, Anon-a-miss posted a science paper you wrote, right?”

“Uh, yeah?” Rainbow Dash answered but was having a hard time trying to follow.

“Did you have soccer practice the day you got that paper back?”

“Soccer practice? Um, yeah.”

“And the junior team was practicing too, right?”

“Well sure, they usually do. But I don’t see what that has to do with-.” Rainbow stopped for a moment and it all finally came together. “Oh my god, of course!”

Then Sweetie Belle stood up. She decided to confess rather than let Sunset unmask her. “And while you all were sleeping at Rarity’s, I swiped Sunset’s phone and downloaded the pictures she took to the internet.”

“Oh Sweetie Belle.” Rarity said with a little disappointment.

“But what I can’t quite figure out is ‘why?’ I know I wasn’t the nicest person in the past, but what did I do that was so terrible that you would want to do this to me? Even after I’ve changed.” Sunset asked the Crusaders who were all looking extremely guilty.

Apple Bloom got up and spoke, “It wasn’t anything you did. It was just you.”

Sunset was confused.

“They were jealous that their sisters were spending more time with you than with them.” Twilight told her.

“We never wanted it to go this far, honestly.” Apple Bloom insisted with tears welling up in her eyes.

“We’re so sorry and ashamed of what we did.” Sweetie Belle tearfully said giving Sunset a hug.

“We’ll do anything to make it up to you, anything.” Scootaloo pleaded with tears streaming down her cheeks.

Rarity gently pulled Sweetie Belle out of her hug with Sunset. She had something to say. “Sunset, we owe you an apology as well.”

“We’re so super-duper sorry for not believing you and driving you away.” Pinkie said regretfully.

“We shoulda thought twice before puttin’ the blame on you.” Applejack said sadly.

“I can't believe I acted like such a jerk. Some friend I am.” Rainbow Dash said glumly.

Fluttershy gave a very regretful and apologetic look. “You know, we aren’t the only ones looking for you.”

“When everyone at CHS found out that you weren’t Anon-a-Miss, they felt so terrible; we made search parties and have been looking all over for you. We walked through blistering winds and tons of freezing snow in the cold, cold night. We even survived a terrorist attack downtown today, barely!” Pinkie said.

"A What!" Sunset exclaimed with shock and concern. She had heard about these kinds of horrific incidences before during her time in this world. "Is anyone hurt?"

"We're fine but quite a lot of people got killed. It was awful!" Fluttershy cringed at the memory of the incident. The fact that there was a dangerous killer out there frightened her.

"Ever since that, we've been so worried about you. We hoped that you'd be somewhere safe." Rarity said with concern.

“And now that we’ve found you, safe and sound, we can all go home and spend the rest of the season as true friends.” Applejack said warmly and put her hand on Sunset’s shoulder. "That is, if you can find it in your heart to forgive us."

Sunset was surprised to hear this; she didn’t think anyone would go searching for her or care if she was in any sort of danger, much less put themselves in danger for her. She looked at everyone in the room; they all had warm and apologetic smiles on their faces as if saying ‘please come back with us.’ Sunset’s surprise expression slowly turned to one of sadness. She slowly pulled away from Applejack and sat back in her chair with her head down. Everyone looked confused and concerned at this.

“Sunset, are you okay?” Twilight asked.

“Do you forgive us?” Apple Bloom asked next.

Sunset didn’t look at them or change her expression. “Yes, I do.” She said with no happiness.

“Great!” Pinkie said not noticing the glumness in Sunset’s voice, “Then we all go home.”

“No Pinkie, I can’t.”

Everyone was shocked to hear this. Sunset said she forgave them but refused to return with them.

“What do you mean?” Pinkie asked confused.

“A huge mistake was made, a mistake of trust, and it has caused a lot of damage. Damage that cannot be completely fixed. What good is friendship if you can’t trust your friends?” Sunset said.

“You mean you can’t come back because we didn’t trust you enough as we should have?” Rainbow asked.

“Actually, it’s because I trusted you too much. I may not have been Anon-a-Miss, but I do feel that I’m still partially responsible for this. After the Battle of the Bands, I thought my bad reputation had decreased dramatically and that our friendship had become stronger than it ever was before. That was a big mistake. As soon as Anon-a-Miss came, all fingers were pointed at me, even yours. No matter how hard I pleaded and cried, not a single person would give me the benefit of the doubt. It was like they thought the old me had returned. I should’ve known my past couldn’t be swept under the rug that easily.”

The girls were starting to understand what Sunset was saying. “But Sunset, everyone knows you’re innocent now.” Rarity said trying to comfort her.

“But for how much longer? Eventually another disaster is going to happen and I’m pretty sure I’ll be suspect number one.”

“But Sunset, we’ll have your back this time. You can trust us, can’t ya?” Applejack asked.

For a moment, Sunset just stared at them. Then hung her head sadly. “I did once.”

Now everyone was starting to get worried. Sunset couldn’t trust them. Therefore, she couldn’t be their friend.

“But Sunset, we know better now. And we’re not gonna turn our backs on you again. We Pinkie-Promise! Please don’t leave us! Please, please, please!” Pinkie pleaded in hysterics.

“Darling, you can’t possibly be thinking of spending the rest of your life all alone out here? Especially with a homicidal maniac about?” Rarity asked hoping to talk some sense into her.

“Do you really think I got here all on my own?” Sunset asked. Then she proceeded to explain what happened to her last night. “Last night, I was walking through the cold, snowy land of the county, the freezing wind biting at my face, alone, not knowing where I was.” As Sunset was explaining her situation, the Humane Five and the Crusaders were looking extremely disturbed. They had nearly condemned Sunset to such a horrible fate, one she didn’t deserve it. “Finally, my body couldn’t take it anymore and I collapsed in the snow.” Sunset was starting to shed tears as she continued which made everyone else feel sympathetic to her. “I thought this was it. That it was over. Before I lost consciousness, I hoped that if there was anyone in this cold world that had any care for my well-being would find me. Then I woke up and found myself in this house. The man who lives here was the one who found me. He was the one who took me in and accepted me. And the best part is: he’s outcast just like me. I could see it in his eyes; the same loneliness. And now we both have a chance to be happy if I stay. I know he will take care of me and will never turn me away. I trust him and he trusts me.” Sunset wiped away her tears and summed up as much strength as she could to tell the girls one last thing. But what she was about to say wasn’t going to be easy to handle. “Sorry girls. When you turned your backs on me, it broke my heart. I can’t go through that again. I can’t go back to Canterlot High, and I can’t be your friend. Just go home. From what you've told me, it's not safe out here at the moment. Don't worry about me, I'm fine." Sunset believed her new friend would be able to protect her, but she wanted the others as far away as possible. Not only for their own safety, but because the horrible memories of the Anon-a-Miss incident were taking their toll. "Please, just go.” Sunset hung her in sadness. She wasn’t proud of what she had just said, but she couldn’t allow herself to become that vulnerable again.

Twilight, the Humane Five, and the Crusaders were not happy to hear this at all. They all had looks of heartbreak and despair on their faces. Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Sweetie Belle looked like they were about to break down in tears. Pinkie’s once poofy hair suddenly deflated and hung straight looking very similar to her sister, Maud.

“We must have been very lousy friends for it to come to this. I’m so sorry, Sunset.” Fluttershy tearfully said and gave her now former friend a hug. Sunset didn’t return the hug. She just stood there taking it, looking like she was struggling not to breakdown either. Fluttershy then took the little gift she had in her pocket and placed it on the coffee table. “Happy Holidays.” She said softly and sadly.

“Let’s go everyone.” Applejack said sadly.

“But what about Sunset?” Apple Bloom asked unable to accept the fact that their friendship with Sunset Shimmer was over.

“She’s not coming with us.”

“But we searched so hard to find her, to make things right!” Scootaloo said on the verge of bawling her eyes out.

“Sorry, squirt.” Rainbow said trying to comfort her little sister figure. However, she too looked like she was about to lose it as well. “There are some things you just can’t fix.”

“Goodbye, Sunset.” Applejack said.

“Goodbye, darling. Do take good care of yourself.” Rarity said next.

“Goodbye, Sunset. You were one of the coolest friends I’ve ever had. I just wish I’d been 20 percent better friend than I should’ve been.” Rainbow Dash was the next to say.

“Goodbye, Sunset. I wish you lots of happiness and smiles.” Pinkie Pie said.

Fluttershy was so sad; she couldn’t bring herself to say anything. She just gave Sunset one last tearful, miserable, apologetic look.

Soon the Humane Five and the Crusaders walked sadly out the door into the snow. Twilight and Spike were the only ones who stayed. Sunset noticed Twilight had something to say. “Are you going to tell me that I’m making a bad decision?”

“No, Sunset.” Twilight said. “I’m not here to take sides. I just want to make sure you’re safe and happy, whatever you decide.” Then she pulled Sunset’s journal out of her backpack. “But please keep this. So that we can still communicate with each other and keep our friendship strong.” And she handed it to Sunset, who warmly accepted it. Then Twilight turned to follow the others out the door. “Come on, Spike.” She called to her assistant. Spike was sniffing the floor of the living room. There was something about the smell of this place that he didn’t like. But he responded to his mistress’s call loyally.

“Twilight!” Sunset called stopping Twilight in her tracks for a moment. “Thank you for everything.”

After that, Twilight wiped away a single tear that had manifested in her right eye. "Be safe." was the last thing she said before she sadly proceeded out the door to join the rest of her friends. Now alone once again in the house, Sunset sat on the couch and stared at the gift Fluttershy had left on the coffee table. After a moment, she buried her face in her hands. She thought about how sad the others were feeling and wondered if she had made the right decision.