Christmas At the Witch's House

The Night Before:

Sunset Shimmer tossed, turned, and groaned in her new bed. It was her first night in her new home and she was having a terrible nightmare.

In her dream, she found herself in the entrance room of the house. The front door opened to the outside. Sunset nervously walked through the door and into the front yard. Outside were her five former friends standing in the snow. They were all staring at her with cold, hateful glares.

“Girls?” Sunset said when she saw and tried to approach them.

“Stay away from us!” Rainbow Dash said in a threatening tone.

“I told ya, yer not our friend anymore.” Applejack angrily declared.

“Please, listen to me,” Sunset pleaded. “I am not Anon-a-Miss. I’m not the one exposing everyone’s secrets. I helped save the entire school from the sirens, remember? Why would I do something like this after something like that?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Rarity bitterly said. “Because you’re ‘Sunset Shimmer.’”

“It’s what you do!” Pinkie Pie coldly added.

“But I’m not that person anymore! I’m not!” Sunset desperately pleaded as tears started forming in her eyes.

“Deny it all you want, we won’t be so easily fooled again,” Fluttershy coldly retorted. “You can’t change who you are.”

“But I have changed!” Sunset tearfully yelled.

“You’ve done too many horrible things in the past. It’s way too late to change that,” Rainbow said. “Nobody likes you! They never have, and they never will!”

“Please, don’t do this,” Sunset begged, tears streaming down her cheeks and falling into the snow.

“Goodbye, Sunset Shimmer,” Applejack coldly said. “We will never see each other again.” With that, the five girls walked off into the distance. Sunset desperately wanted to chase after them, but for some reason her legs wouldn’t move and she could only watch as they disappeared into the snow. Then she heard a wet squishy noise coming from back inside the house. She turned her attention to the open front door where the strange sound was coming from. At first, she wasn’t able to see anything, but then out of the darkness emerged what looked like Viola crawling through the doorway and into the light. She was in a very horrific state. Her eyes were missing, blood dripped from the empty sockets and her mouth, and her legs were missing and leaving a trail of blood behind her as she crawled into the front yard. She seemed to be trying to say something but was unable to and made sounds as if she were choking on her own blood. Sunset’s despair soon turned to horror.

“Viola?” Sunset said staring in horror at the mutilated girl who was moving closer and closer to her.

She wanted to run, but for some reason her legs wouldn’t move. Suddenly, the mangled Viola increased her speed and moved closer and quicker toward the paralyzed Sunset. She was just inches away from her until Sunset let out a terrified scream and nearly jumped out of her bed. She sat up sweating and panting heavily. Then she looked out the window and saw it was morning. After getting dressed, she headed downstairs to the dining room for breakfast. She found Viola happily carrying plates of fruit, eggs, and pancakes out of the kitchen and setting them on the huge table.

“Good morning, Sunset,” Viola cheerfully greeted her new friend. “How are you today?”

“A little rough,” Sunset answered rubbing her face. “I didn’t sleep too well.”

“Oh dear, had a rough night?” Viola asked concerned.

“Kinda,” Sunset responded.

“Well here, maybe having some breakfast will help you feel better.”

Sunset and Viola sat at the table together and enjoyed the delicious breakfast Viola had prepared.

“That was delicious,” Sunset complimented. “Thanks, Viola.”

“No problem, it’s nice to make friends feel good,” Viola replied.

“Yeah, it is nice,” Sunset commented while glumly looking down at her plate. She was remembering the times she used to spend with her old friends back at Canterlot High.

“Is something wrong, Sunset?” Viola asked concerned.

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

“Thinking about your old friends?”

Sunset let out a sad exhale before speaking. “Actually, yes. Whenever I think about the good times we had, the day that it all fell apart eventually comes up. I’ve had some pretty bad days, but that day topped them all. I guess pon… I mean, people like me just can’t fit in with human society.”

Viola had a suspicious look on her face. “Sunset, exactly who are you?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I know you’re hiding something about yourself. You could say I have a bit of a sixth sense about it.” Sunset looked very reluctant to tell the young girl her secret, but Viola insisted it was okay and she would understand. “It’s okay, you can tell me.”

Sunset took a deep breath as she prepared to reveal the entire truth about herself. She told Viola that she wasn’t human but a magical unicorn from another world. She also told her about the magical adventures she had in the past at Canterlot High. To Sunset’s surprise, Viola didn’t look disturbed or weirded out by this. Instead, she looked fascinated.

“You don’t think this all sounds crazy?” Sunset asked noticing the girl’s fascinated expression.

“No, actually I feel more happy than ever that we met,” Viola said.

“Why’s that?”

“Because I feel I can share a secret of my own,” Viola excitedly told her. Sunset’s interest was peeked. There was something about this girl that didn’t feel human either. “You see, I’m not exactly normal either.” Sunset had a confused look on her face. “Here, let me show you something,” she excitedly said and ran out of the dining room. After a couple minutes, she returned with a teddy bear. “Watch this,” she said placing the bear down on the table. Then she pointed her hands at it and took a deep breath. Right before Sunset’s eyes, the stuffed animal stood up on its legs and started dancing as if it were alive.

“How… how are you doing this?” Sunset asked amazed.

“It would appear you’re not the only one with magic here,” Viola said. “I knew there was a reason you and I met, Sunset. It’s fate. Do you understand what I’m telling you, Sunset?”

“I think so,” Sunset hesitantly answered.

“We’re both lonely magical girls rejected by society. No one likes us. They all fear us because of what makes us special. The only people we can truly rely on are ourselves.”

“I think I understand where you’re going. But… I don’t know.”

“Sunset,” Viola said looking Sunset in the eye with pleading eyes. “You’re the only person I’ve met who I can truly relate to. Who understands what it’s like to be different, ostracized, and lonely. Now, I’m not saying you should stay here with me forever, I just want you to know I trust you. You’ve revealed your secrets to me and I’ve revealed my secrets to you. But I believe you’re not this ‘Anon-a-Miss’ person, and won’t post it on the internet. I believe you’re not the horrible person everyone says you are. Now that you’ve seen that I have magic, do you believe I’m evil?”

“No! Absolutely not!” Sunset said. “Viola, you’re one of the most wonderful people I’ve ever met.”

“Thanks, Sunset. That really means a lot to me,” Viola said looking very touched by Sunset’s words. “Are you absolutely sure you’d still like to stay here with me in this creepy old house?”

“Definitely,” Sunset said with absolute certainty.

The two girls exchanged warm hugs.

“You know, I always wanted a sister,” Viola said looking up at Sunset.

“Me too,” Sunset warmly replied gently stroking her head.

As the two shared the warm embrace, Sunset felt she had finally found where she truly belonged. Silently, she wished that nothing would be able to take this from her.

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were all gathered at Sweet Apple Acres getting supplies for their search for their missing friend. They were packing their backpacks with food and batteries for flashlights. Who knew how long this search would take. They all had very glum and remorseful faces as they packed. The five older girls were deeply ashamed of themselves; they had all falsely accused their good friend for crimes she was innocent of all along and now they had driven her to running away. The three younger girls felt even worse since they were the ones responsible for this huge mess.

“So, how did Maud take the news?” Fluttershy asked Pinkie.

Pinkie’s glum face slowly turned to one of anxiety as if remembering something truly disturbing.

In her mind, Maud was standing in front of her. She was wearing her normal grayish blue dress and staring at her with the emotionless expression she always had on her face.

“I’m very disappointed in you, Pinkie,” she said in her usual deadpan voice.

Despite the words not sounding like they had any emotion behind them, Pinkie knew deep down her sister wasn’t happy at all with the terrible mistake she’d made. Out of all her sisters, Maud was her favorite, and to have disappointed her so badly was painfully eating away at her insides. Pinkie was struggling to hold back her tears of regret.

“Oh, I see,” Fluttershy said reading Pinkie’s miserable facial expressions and gently patting her on the back.

Applejack came out of the house with her dog, Winona, by her side. “Ah’m bringin’ along Winona. Her nose can detect almost anythin’.”

“If only Twilight were here,” Rarity sadly said. “We could use her help.”

“Well, Sunset has the only means of contacting her,” Rainbow said.

“And besides, I don’t think I could face her after what I did,” Fluttershy nervously added.

“Me neither,” Pinkie added just as nervous.

The girls believed that without Sunset, they could never be able to face their best friend again.

“Do we have everythin’ we need?” Applejack asked everyone. They all put on their backpacks and nodded ‘yes.’ “Then let’s get goin’. Come on, Winona.”

All eight girls set out to begin their search with Winona walking right beside AJ.

“I hope Sunset is alright,” Fluttershy said hopefully.

“Me too,” Apple Bloom added sadly. She and her two friends really felt bad for what they did to Sunset and deeply wanted to talk to her and tell her how sorry they were.

For the five older girls, this was possibly their last chance to fix a mistake that they desperately needed to mend and save their friendship.