Chapters I am laying in the crater, my hair a mess and in severe pain, and when I wake up, I see all my peers surrounding and looking down at me. Twilight walks up to the edge of the crater I am in, staring down at me, angry.
"You will never rule in Equestria, any power you may have had here is gone!" she says. "Tonight, you have shown everyone who you really are, you've shown them what is in your heart."
I look up at her, my vision blurry from the tears streaming down my cheeks. "I..I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! I didn't know there was another way."
"The magic of friendship dosen't just exist in Equestria." Twilight then looks back at her friends. "It's everywhere. You can seek it out, or you could forever be alone.The choice is yours." she finished with a cold undertone to her voice.
I manage to pull myself up to the edge of the crater. "All I've ever done since being here is drive everyone apart, I don't know the first thing about friendship."
Twilight reaches her hand out and lifts me out from the crater.
"I bet they can teach you." she says, looking over to the 5 other girls.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
I wake up, knowing that was all just a dream.
As I get out of my bed and get ready for school, I think to myself that I don't deserve the friendship of those 6 girls. All I did was drive the 5 of them apart their freshman year. Who would wanna be friends with the person that drove their friendship apart in the first place. Thank Celestia Twilight was there to bring them back together. I was pissed at her at first.
The old me was such a bitch, wasn't she? All I ever did was drive people apart and manipulate people. I used someone to gain popularity.
As I am changing from my pajamas to my normal attire, consisting of a leather jacket..ah, that leather jacket. It covers up the scars. The scars from me harming myself. I took out all of the pain I caused to others, and took it out on myself. I put alot of pressure on myself because of my past. I have cut myself, bullied and manipulated others just to get a crown.
A stupid fucking crown.
It wasn't even worth it at all. I got defeated by Twilight, and made a complete fool of myself.
As I grab my keys and head out the door I wonder: Why do I even go to this school in the first place?
MY school day mainly consists of dirty looks, people whispering to their friends things about me. It's funny, they think I can't hear them. I usually eat lunch in the bathroom, and Fluttershy usually tries to get me to come sit with her and her other friends, but I have to refuse. I don't deserve their friendship. I drove them apart and almost killed one of them. What kind of friend would I be?
As I approach the entrance of Canterlot High, I take a deep breath and open up the doors of the school.
This is it...
It's the beginning of the school day, and I'm in my 1st period class, and an announcement comes on over the loudspeaker:
"All students please report to the auditorium to work on your signs and posters for the musical showcase."
Once the loudspeaker turns off, all of the students head out of the classroom, and down to the auditorium. Once I enter the auditorium, I see everyone working on their signs and posters, and I see Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo working on their poster, and since I'm friends with their sisters, I thought I should help them on their poster. When I grab Sweetie Belle's paintbrush from the can of paint, all of the 3 girls look at me, a look of terror in their eyes.
"Want some help?" I say, trying to be friendly.
"Ah, no thanks." Applebloom says, the other two girls looking at her. "We're good." They all nod.
I sigh. "Okay." I hand Sweetie Belle back the paintbrush.
"Sunset Shimmer!!" I look over to the source of the yelling: Pinkie Pie. "Over here!!"
As soon as Pinkie said my name, everyone looked at me, and started to whisper to one another. I just smile, and walk over to Pinkie and the other girls.
I sigh. "I had no idea the whole school would be here."
Fluttershy puts her hand on my shoulder, comforting me. I look up and smile at her.
Pinkie and Rarity then hold up a poster. "Quite the eye-catching advertisement, if I do say so myself."
"And it smells like cake!" Pinkie adds, a beaming smile on her face.
"It does?" Fluttershy questioned, and goes to smell the poster, and Pinkie then ends up slamming the poster in her face.
Pinkie then took the poster off of Fluttershy's face, revealing now that her face is covered in glitter and frosting.
"I used frosting instead of paste!" Pinkie chimes, smiling.
"Uh, Fluttershy.. you've got a little something, uh.." Applejack points to her nose, and Fluttershy then gets the hint, and tries to rub the frosting off, but to no avail.
"Uh.. did I get it?" she asks, pointing to her cheek.
Applejack lets out a chuckle. "Not exactly."
I take the napkin and wipe the rest off of her face, and then Princess...er, I mean principal Celestia walks in, along with Vice Principal Luna.
"Good afternoon, students." Principal Celestia announces. "I just wanted to tell you all how pleased I am that so many of you are going to participate in the first ever CHS musical showcase!"
All the student cheer, excited about the upcoming event.
"This is a wonderful opportunity to raise money for all our after-school programs here at CHS, so keep working on those signs and posters." she continues. "I think it's going to be one of the most exciting events we've had at CHS since the Fall Formal."
'Really?' I think to myself. 'You've got to be kidding me.'
Now everyone is glaring at me. Oh, great.
I'm embarrassed, I feel humiliated. Why bring that up?
I sink down to the floor and put my hands to my knees. I can't stand to look at everyone giving me hateful glares.
"Ugh. I am never going to live that down." I say, looking down at the ground.
"Well, you were pretty bad at the Fall Formal.." Fluttershy remarks, grabbing her tambourine off of a shelf.
"A demon." I roll my eyes. "I turned into a raging she-demon."
"And tried to turn everyone here into teenage zombies for your own personal army!" Pinkie adds, smiling at me.
You're not really helping, Pinkie.
"Aw, darling." Rarity says, while adjusting her keytar. "You have us, and we've forgiven you for your past.." she clears her throat. "boo-boos."
"To be honest, I'd say the whole experience brought everyone at Canterlot High closer than ever before." Applejack says, tuning her bass guitar.
Applejack then looks over at Pinkie Pie, who is sitting at her drum set.
"1,2,3!" she shouts, tapping her drumsticks together.
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After the song is over, the girls' pony ears and "tails" go away.
"I still can't believe that happens to us when we play." Rarity remarks, putting down her instrument. "We've got to look for some new accessories, like something that looks good in a longer pony tail.." she paces for a moment, trying to come up with an idea. "ooh! Maybe some clip-on earrings for when I get those adorable pony ears!"
"I just wonder why it happens." Applejack points out, sitting on the set of stairs next to Fluttershy. "Princess Twilight took her crown back to Equestria. Shouldn't that mean she took all the magic back with her?"
Rainbow Dash scoffs. "Who cares why it happens? It makes my band totally awesome!"
Rarity gasps. "Your band?"
"Duh. It was my idea to start the Rainbooms so we could be in the showcase. After all, I'm the lead singer and guitarist" she gloats.
All of a sudden, there was a knock at the door, and someone walks in: Flash Sentry. He didn't acknowledge me or look at me. I don't blame him.
"Uh, heard you guys outside. You guys are sounding really tight." He says, walking over to the others.
"We're getting there. Rarity's coming in a little late on the second verse, and Applejack's base solo could use a little work. Rainbow critiques, the two girls looking at her, annoyed. "They'll get it in time for the showcase."
Flash scratched the back of his head. "I don't suppose our friends from uh.. out of town might come? Uh.. it being a special charity event and all."
"Sorry Flash, but I don't think Twilight is gonna be back here anytime soon." Applejack points out.
"Oh, yeah. Okay. I just, you know, thought I would ask. Keep on rockin' it." He adds , now leaving.
"Well, someone's quite the smitten kitten." Rarity giggles, then notices me standing right beside her. "Oh, sorry. I always forget you and Flash used to be an item."
"It's okay." I say, pretending to brush it off. "Flash is a great guy and all, but I never really liked him. I was just using him to become more popular" I noticed what I just said. "The old me was really awful, wasn't she?"
A chorus of 'Yep's' and 'mmhm's' cam from the girls. They were right, I was horrible.
"But the important thing is that you've turned yourself around." Appljack says, putting her arm across my shoulder.
"Thanks Applejack, but I'm not sure everyone else at CHS feels the same way."
Our conversation was interrupted by an announcement over the loudspeaker:
"Sunset Shimmer please report to the main foyer."
Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. Principal Celestia asked me if I wanted to tour some new people around the school.
"Gotta run. I volunteered to show some new students around the school. Thought it'd be good for them to get to know the new me before they hear some stuff about the old me."
I walk out of the band room, and head to the main foyer.
I walk into the main foyer, and notice three girls standing there.
"Hi!" I say in a friendly tone. "are you the new girls I'm supposed to show around?"
"Yes." the girl with light orange hair and magenta eyes says, stepping out of the shadows with the other 2 girls. "we are."
"Canterlot High is a great school, you're really gonna love it." I say, heading towards the stairs, the three girls now following behind me.
"Yes, we really sense there's something magical about this place." the one withe the orange hair says in a devious tone.
Oh, no! How were they already told about the old me, and they haven't even been here for a whole day yet! I pretend to shrug it off, and begin to show them around the school.
"That's the science lab, the computer lab is in there.." I say, pointing to the classrooms. I then notice the musical show case poster. "We're having a musical showcase this weekend. The whole school is pretty much rallying around it."
The orange-haired girl gasps, and outs her hand up to her chin, with a devious smile on her face. "A musical showcase?"
"I'm sure since you're new, Principal Celestia would let you sign up if you're interested." I suggest.
The one with purple hair speaks up. "We have been known to sing from time to time-"
The blue-haired one interrupts her. "Hellooo, we sing like, all the time! It's how we get people to do what we want."
I look at her questioningly, and the other girls look at her.
"Wha-what did I say?" she says, shrugging.
"What you meant to say was that being in a musical showcase sounds like a great way to meet other students." the orange-haired one said, pointing the girl.
"Oh..yeah. What she said I meant to say. That's what I meant..to say." she says, a nervous smile on her face.
The purple-haired girl scoffs, giving the blue-haired one a dirty look. "And what you would have said if you weren't the worst."
"Oh, yeah? You are!" the blue-haired one says, crossing her arms.
Then the orange-haired one interrupts the two. "You'll have to excuse them...they're idiots."
I then notice the girls' necklaces, and reach out to have a closer look at them. But the orange-haired girl grabs my wrist, and I look up at her, confused. Why is she so defensive over this necklace?
She notices what she did, and lets go of my wrist. "Sorry, these pendants mean an awful lot to us. We'd just hate for anything to happen to them."
They all walk away, except for the blue-haired girl. The purple-haired one grabs her wrist, and pulls her away, and the bell rings for lunch.
I walk up to my lunch table, and sit next to Applejack.
"So, how was the tour?" she asks.
I sigh. "I don't know. I mean, these girls, they were.. there was something off about them."
"Off like this?" Pinkie asks, forming her curly, pink hair into a mustache and beard. "Or off like this?" sake asks again, putting carrots on her teeth to make her look like a walrus.
"Or maybe we should just let her tell us?" Rainbow suggests.
"That's just it. I just can't put my finger on it. They just acted sort of..strange around me." I rest my head on the table "Maybe someone already talked to them, told them about what I did." I sigh. "So much for making a good first impression."
"Uh-huh." Fluttershy adds, getting judgmental looks from the other girls. "Oh..that's probably not it." she looks at the other girls, and sinks into her chair nervously.
Then, the three girls that I toured earlier walk in, and begin to sing.
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After they finish singing, everyone is arguing, except for Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie, and myself.
"Oh, they're that kind of off!" Pinkie yelled, the others looking at her.
As soon as I walk into the school, I see everyone staring at me, their eyes full of anger and hatred. I just do what I always do: I run to my locker, grab my things, and go to class.
As I am heading to my class, someone pulls me by my arm into the girl's bathroom.
When I look to see who is in the bathroom, I was surprised to see Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity standing there. And finally, one of the girls speak up.
"Sunset, we need to talk to you about something." Rainbow Dash stated, walking closer to me. "You have been ignoring us ever since Twilight left, and we wanna know why."
I look up from the ground, and sigh.
"Sunset.." Rarity put a hand on my shoulder. "we care about you.."
"Well, you shouldn't." I look at the ground, and hear the other girls gasp. I then mutter: "I don't deserve your friendship."
"What makes ya say that, sugarcube?" Applejack asks, looking at me, concerned.
"I almost killed Twilight!" I then look up. "I hypnotized the whole school, and turned into a raging she-demon! I bullied, manipulated everyone, and used people to get whatever I wanted. How good of a friend am I when I was the one that split your friendship up in the first place, and was rude and mean to all of you?" I immediately start crying, and lowering to a crouching position on the ground, still crying and covering my eyes with my hands. "I can never forgive myself for what I did to all of you."
"Sunset.." Fluttershy grabs my hand and pulls me off of the ground. "I know, your past wasn't that..great, but we know that you've changed, and we want to help you. I forgive you for what you have done, and so have the others. We would like for you to be friends with us, we love you Sunset, and have seen you change for the better. We all trust you."
The other girls surround me, putting their hands on my shoulders.
"Whaddaya' say Sunset?" Applejack asks. "Are ya' willing to accept our friendship?"
I smile. "Yes, I will accept your friendship."
All of the girls start to pull me into a group hug.
"Thank you girls, I really appreciate it. You guys are the only ones that actually have forgiven me." I say, hugging them back.
And for once in a long time, I am truly, genuinely happy.
The beginning of the school day passes by fast, and now it's time for lunch. When the bell rings, I immediately head on down to the lunch room, waiting for the girls to get here.
I still can't believe I'm friends with them now, and they have forgiven me. But.. I haven't forgiven myself yet.
I open my locker, and put my things in it, and head for lunch. Once I walk into the lunchroom, the room goes silent and everyone looks at me in disgust. I've learned to get used to it, but it still hurts. I see Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy sitting at the lunch table with their food, while Rarity and Pinkie are in line, getting their lunch. I decide to go in line and get a salad. Once I got my food, I headed over to their lunch table and sat down at the end of the table next to Applejack, and across from Pinkie Pie. Everyone is eating their food, including me.
"So Sunset, I started a band called 'The Rainbooms'.." Rainbow Dash began.
"Our band!!" all the girls yell at her.
Rainbow Dash just rolled her eyes and continued speaking. "I'm on lead vocals and guitar, AJ plays the bass, Pinkie plays the drums, Rarity plays the keytar, and Fluttershy plays the tambourine. We were wondering if you wanted to watch us play in the band room tomorrow during school. You up for that?"
"Yeah, I would love to hear you guys play." I respond with a smile.
The bell rings, signaling the end of lunch. Everyone files out of the lunchroom, and heads for their classes. I follow behind the girls, and arrive at my locker, and I wave goodbye to all of them. I grab my things out of my locker, and head to my next class.
The rest of the school day passes by quickly, and I am now walking home.
I can't believe that they all have forgiven me. They actually wanted to forgive me. I didn't deserve their friendship.
My thoughts are interrupted by Fluttershy.
"Hi Sunset." she says, waving. "Do you mind if I walk home with you?"
"Huh?..oh, hi!" I respond. "No, I don't mind."
We both continue our walk home, and the awkward silence is uncomfortable.
"So.." I say, trying to start a conversation. "How are things going with your guys' band?"
"Oh.." Fluttershy says, playing with a strand of her hair. "Things are going okay, I guess."
"Well that's good to hear." I smile. "Well, I want to say thank you for being there for me, and forgiving me for what I've done. I mean, I know I'm not fully forgiven, but still.. thanks for being my friend.."
"It's no problem at all." she pauses for a moment. "The others and I have forgiven you for your past mistakes.."
"But I was so mean to you , Fluttershy!" I interrupted. "The old me was such a rude, deceptive bitch! I will never forgive myself for what I did!"
Fluttershy then hides her face from me.
"...I-I'm sorry. I lashed out on you." I apologized.
"It's okay.." she says, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Well, I gotta go, see you tomorrow."
"Yeah.." I say, smiling. "See you tomorrow."
