The bite of the freezing wind washing over her body caused Sunset to question her sanity once again as she couldn’t bring herself to move away from the window looking into the Apple family’s home. The snow had only started falling harder when she arrived, but instead of knocking on the door she froze at the sight through the fogged up pane of glass. Inside was everyone laughing and carrying on as if nothing had happened, as if the huge scandal over the last week that drove sunset into a dark downward spiral of emotions that made her seriously contemplate just ending it all.
As she looked on, she could see the love and care that everyone shared with each other. Even the unconditional love shown to the three girls whose bout of jealousy started everything. No anger or resentment seemed to be in the air as they laughed and giggled with their older sisters as they all enjoyed what looked like hot cocoa in front of the fire. Something Sunset herself would kill for at the moment as she held her leather jacket closed around her since the zipper had been broken since the night of the Fall Formal. Her legs felt as if they were slowly freezing solid as she shivered, trying to carry her to the door to knock and yet she just couldn’t do that.
Of course she didn’t want the three younger girls to have a bad holiday, yet only one of them even really apologized while her friends had yet to do so despite the truth getting out the night before. She wasn’t even sure how to feel about any of it despite originally saying it was okay since she just couldn’t process it. And her friends’ reactions was to wave off the whole ordeal with Applejack telling her that she looked forward to seeing Sunset at the party currently happening on the other side of the window.
The more she thought about it, the more she had to ask herself if they ever even cared about her. During the whole siren incident they always made sure to point out the bad things in her past that she was trying so desperately to move on from. They never invited her to join the band despite her dropping blatant hints of wanting to until Twilight got involved and Sunset pretty much pulled their asses out of the fire when the sirens had them on the rocks. In fact, it was Twilight who asked the girls to look after Sunset in the first place.
“Did they ever really like me, or did they put up with me for Twilight’s sake?” Sunset asked placing a hand on the window, feeling a bit of warmth seep through from the inside. It was a dark thought she had asked herself more than once, a thought that always sent her spiraling down a dark path of depression. Normally she could bring herself out of it, but after the last week she just didn’t have the strength to.
If there was once thing that was both Sunset’s biggest asset and her worst fault, it was that she had a great deal of pride. And while sometimes it was hard for it to shine through as her emotions have been at constant war since that night in a crater, her pride was still there. And it was raging at the injustice of all the pain she had felt the past week. Glaring at the people inside, Sunset decided she would rather face the extreme temperatures of the moment than join a party where people didn’t really want her.
Turning from the Apple family home, Sunset stepped off the porch, huddled into her jacket for as much warmth as she could get. Walking off into the quickly setting sunset, she walked for what seemed like an eternity until she realized she was lost in an endless expanse of white as the raging snowstorm made it impossible to see more than a few feet in front of her. She realized if she didn’t find shelter soon she would likely freeze to death.
Shivering uncontrollably she felt as if she would collapse at any moment when she spotted an old blue police box making her realize she must have been stumbling around the Apple family farm since old Granny Smith collected all kinds of antiques like this and liked to put them around their land. And while it was kind of tacky in Sunset’s opinion, it looked to be her saving grace at the moment. Sure it would still be freezing cold inside, but it would provide protection from the worse of it and block off the blowing winds.
Shuffling up to it Sunset tried the door just as a strange sound was starting to come from it. An almost ‘vroom vroom’ sound, yet it didn’t quite describe the odd noise. All that Sunset cared about was that the door was locked when she tried the handle. Leaning her head against the solid surface she let out a sob cursing her stupid pride as it was going to finally get her killed. She let out a squeak when the door suddenly gave way to her weight and she fell inward and onto the floor. Her eyes refused to adjust after the freezing cold and white expanse, but the sudden rush of warmth made her smile a bit before her stomach lurched. She felt a sudden sensation of moving, as if the whole police box had shifted.
“Oi, who the heck are you?” A male voice asked with curiosity before the warmth of someone’s hand brushing against her forehead. “Oh that’s not good, not good at all, it feels like you have a fever. A nasty one at that.”
Squeaking out as she felt a pair of arms lift her from the ground, too weak to struggle or fight back, she instead tried to demand to be let go. Her voice refused to cooperate as only a few hoarse sounds escaped her lips.
“Come on now, let’s get you warmed up shall we and see what we can do about that nasty ever.” The man said, a little too chipper for Sunset’s taste though she knew she didn’t have much choice at the moment.
Author's Note
I haven't abandoned A Whole New World, I am working on plotting out a lot of stuff dealing with Sunset and her past which will be getting put into the story very soon or ending up serving as a prequel or prologue. Most likely it will end up getting incorporated in flashbacks soon.
As for this story, it's serving as a way to get back into writing after a very crappy last few months. My brother's health is pretty stable at the moment, but that can change at any time and he has a lot of different doctors right now. And with the steep decline this last year, especially the last few months, I will write when I can. I just don't have the patience to deal with much right now with my nerves being constantly on end, so please don't no trolling.
It was March twenty-seventh, a record breaking warm day of early spring with not a cloud in the sky. Despite what would normally be a great Monday for Canterlot High, the students and the staff both seemed dragged down by a dark depression as they slowly trickled in to begin the day, a day that nobody was looking forward to with any sort of excitement as they lost yet more of their numbers with two teachers last day having been the Friday before. While the students themselves normally wouldn’t see it as a huge loss, one of the teachers being as Cranky as his namesake, the timing of their departure hit the school’s populace rather hard. Especially after his exit speech leaving the students feeling worse than they already did. Who knew the old man cared more for a troubled student than he let on?
Every student and teacher froze in their tracks as they noticed the newcomers walk confidently across the school’s courtyard, eyes widening and jaws dropping. It was rumored that the two new teachers would be starting today along with their daughter, but their looks made everyone drop what they were doing just to gawk. There was a teenager flanked by both a man and a woman.
The first was a man who appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties who walked with a confident yet cheerful attitude. He wore a large brown overcoat over a messy blue pinstriped suit with a loose red tie with a pair of sneakers. He seemed to have a cheery, carefree aura around him, yet the few who glimpsed into his eyes would later swear they saw an edge that unnerved them quite a bit. He had a messy yet hot look that drew more than a few appraising glances.
The second was the youngest of the trio dressed in a violet shirt, black skirt and boots with a denim jacket with a moon with an artist’s paint brush going through it as if it was painting it. Her long hair was shades of light and dark blue as if made up of flames and violet eyes seemed to hold a bit of resentment as she looked around her at those staring at the trio. She looked almost like Sunset Shimmer made up of different colors.
And finally the last person was a woman in her late twenties to early thirties whose beauty transfixed many until they got a good look at her. She made a few students whimper either from sadness or fear as guilt seemed to sweep over the gathered people all the way across the quad up to the small group laying flowers at the base of a statue. Her white lab coat fluttered around her almost like a cape and the light gleaming from her glasses may have blinded a few, but they still couldn’t turn away from her.
Even the group laying flowers around a photo of a teenage girl with the same looks as the woman seemed transfixed by her sudden appearance.
“Hello girls, could you perhaps point us to the office? We are kind of new here.” The woman said, her eyes going from one girl to the next appraising each one of them.
“Ex-excuse me, may I ask who you are?” Fluttershy asked, the first to overcome her shock as she swallowed nervously. She was scared, very scared at the moment, but she just had to know.
“I’m the new science teacher, my family recently transferred back from studying the pyramids.” The woman said, giving Fluttershy a kind smile making the shy girl feel worse as the woman’s eyes looked over to the memorial for Sunset. “My name is Sunset Shimmer.”
To her credit it was Rarity who fainted making both Applejack and Rainbow Dash scramble to catch her limp body. That didn’t help settle Fluttershy’s nerves as she realized that she had to have been looking at this world’s Sunset Shimmer making the girl realize that yes, karma is a bitch and she was probably here to collect in place of the girl who shared her looks.
“You all look like you’ve seen a ghost.” The teenager snorted, waving a hand toward the base of the statue and the piles of flowers and framed photo sitting there. “What’s going on here anyways? Why do you have a picture of my mom?”
“Your mother?” Pinkie Pie asked, sounding as hollow as she has been for months. A part of Fluttershy was hoping that the girl would snap out of her funk with the new teachers and student, but looking at them now she realized that wasn’t very likely to happen.
“Sorry there sugarcube, this isn’t your mother though it is one heck of a coincidence.” Applejack drawled out, trying to stall while coming up with an excuse.
“Darling, this is out friend.” Rarity choked out, hugging herself as Rainbow helped steady her after waking up. “She died just after Christmas.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that dear, tragedy always seems to strike when least expected.” The man said. “Oh, my apologies, my name is Time Turner though you all may call me Doctor. This is my beautiful wife Sunset Shimmer and our daughter Moonlight Dreamer.”
“Daddy!” said teen whined, rolling her eyes. “Call me Moonie, please, but what happened? Did she get in an accident?”
“It’s complicated.” Rainbow Dash said as Fluttershy decided to go ahead and explain. The others seemed to turn into how she used to be when confronted with this while Fluttershy felt she owed it to Sunset Shimmer to tell the truth instead of sugarcoating things. The now dead girl deserved that much.
“Back before Christmas, someone made a MyStable account using Sunset’s theme with touches that pointed to her own personal style. They called they account Anon-A-Miss and they posted all kinds of cruel things hurting a lot of people.” Fluttershy explained as she uselessly wiped away the tears on her face as she glared back at the others or not stepping in. Taking a deep breath she continued, “Everyone blamed Sunset for it, even us, and we were her best friends. We pushed her to kill herself.”
Ok, that wasn’t proven though Fluttershy knew deep down it was true. Princess Twilight and both doppelgangers of Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna came through the portal and used some kind of spell powered from each of the girl’s magic to trace the location of all magical being on earth. While it was a shock to learn there was so many, it was an even bigger shock to learn that none of them was a match for Sunset’s personal magical signature that was soaked up into the girl’s journal. The look of pain and anger as the woman glared holes as her sister helped her back through the portal would haunt Fluttershy for the rest of her days as realization for everyone set in. If there was no trace of Sunset on the planet she was either off planet or dead, and chances were zero that Sunset was off planet.
“Some friends, didn’t you even try to help her? Or did you all jump on the blame Sunset bandwagon as soon as the shit hit the fan?” Moonie asked with disdain making Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy all cry harder as Rainbow Dash took a step forward to be stopped by the man.
“Now girls, let’s not cause a scene in front of young sunset’s memorial. It wouldn’t right.” The Doctor said, putting a hand on Moonie’s shoulder.
“I really want to know dad? What kind of worthless friends would push someone, anyone even, to kill themselves?” Moonie asked in disbelief while glaring at the girls, most of whom looked saddened while Applejack and Rainbow Dash were a little angry about the accusation despite truth ringing loudly in it.
“Moonie, that is enough!” The Doctor snapped out, the steel in his voice silencing everyone as the teen rubbed her arms while looking away. “I know you always stick up for those who can not fight their own battles luv, but neither a school nor a memorial is a place to do so. Let’s leave these young women to mourn their friend in peace and head inside.”
“You go ahead dear, I’ll be along in a few minutes.” Sunset said kissing her husband and hugging her daughter who lightly protested before being led away by her father. Watching the two walk away the woman couldn’t help smiling in appreciation at everything she had gained despite everything she had to go through to get it.
“She has every right to be upset with us.” Pinkie Pie sniffed, as Fluttershy couldn’t help agreeing with her.
“Sunset deserved better than us.” Fluttershy sighed, as Rarity put a hand on her back rubbing.
“Ma’am, I apologize for what happened with your daughter.” Applejack said, tracing the brim of her Stetson a she held it close to her chest.
“Don’t you dare apologize for me, I know we screwed up, but I ain’t taking crap from some punk who doesn’t know anything about what happened.” Rainbow Dash snorted earning a frown from the woman.
“While my daughter did cross a line, she did have a point girls. What kind of friend would push one of their own to hurt themselves? If you haven’t done so, I would suggest that you think about what happened and how to be better friends to each other moving forward so another tragedy such as this can be avoided.” Sunset said, ignoring the angry yet hurt look Rainbow Dash was giving her. “I’m not saying this to be cruel, but this is an important lesson that you all should take to heart. Be better that you were, show your friend that you can learn from the past and be there for one another in the future. If you can do that, I’m sure your friend would rest in peace knowing that the ones she loved learned from their mistakes and became better people from them.”
“How do we move on though as friends when our friendship is what caused all of this to begin with darling?” Rarity asked, desperation in her voice.
“It won’t be easy dear, nothing worthwhile ever is. If you need someone to talk to you may always come to me. Or if you need more professional help, I can suggest a few good doctors.” Sunset said, looking over her shoulder as she heard a bell ring. “Looks like I’m later than I thought. Sorry girls, I have a principal to see and I’m sure you have classes to get to.”
None of the girls looked eager to move away as they all looked back and forth at each other and the memorial of their lost friend. While they have gotten closer since it happened, it was also true that they also drifted farther apart in other ways. Is that really what Sunset Shimmer would really want of them? While she wasn’t sure of the answer, Fluttershy was sure that if there was anyway she could make up what she did she would do it.
Author's Note
Sorry about the long wait, I almost put this story on hold since I'm having trouble with some of the story's elements. It's thanks to Blazeblast4 that this even got done and that I'm continuing this story with a lot of his help so make sure to say thanks to him everyone.
Sorry, I actually had this chapter done for a few days, but just finished proofing it. Last night though, the house across the street had a young man die from what my mom, she's friends with the older man's father, said was an overdose of heroin. Now I didn't really know him, it sucks that anyone has to die from that garbage and just wanted to say please don't even think about even trying it. Once you do, you are supposedly hooked for life.
