Sunset awoke the next morning in a much better mood than she had in weeks. While yesterday had been fun, today she opted to stay home and watch TV. Throughout the day she received a phone call from each of her friends. They had mostly been short conversations, lasting no more than 15 minutes, just checking in on her. Pinkie however had been on the phone for nearly an hour, eventually ending the conversation by shouting something about cupcakes, and promptly hanging up the phone.

The next day when Sunset got up, she was still far happier than she had been since her defeat, but now there was an underlying sense of dread. She readied herself for the day regardless. She had already skipped on Friday, she didn't want another unexcused absence on her record.

Once she was ready for the day she picked up her helmet and backpack and stepped out the door. As she was about to hop onto her bike she saw her old helmet dangling from the handlebar. She gave it a blank stare for a few seconds and then she picked it up and dropped on the ground next to her. She would have to deal with it eventually, but not right now. She slid her new helmet onto her head, turned the key in the ignition.

She pulled into the parking lot and pulled her helmet off her head. She was going to put it on the handlebar as the usually did, but she stopped herself. Who was to say that the same person who had vandalized her original helmet wouldn't return and do the same to her new one? She instead decided that it would be better to store the helmet in her locker for the day to prevent anything from happening to it.

As she rounded the corner from the parking lot to the school's front entrance she saw her friends sitting on the steps waiting for her. She walked up to them and Pinkie greeted her with a smile coupled with a "Morning Sunny!" The rest weren't as energetic but still said polite hellos. Rarity had one more thing to say though.

"Sunset darling, how are you feeling?" Rarity gave her a slightly concerned look.

"I'm doing much better. Although I am still a little nervous." Sunset shuddered a little as she thought about what else the other students might do to her today.

She jumped a little when she felt someone place their hand on her shoulder, but quickly calmed down upon turning to see Applejack looking at her. "Don't you worry about that sugarcube. We've got your back, and we'll make sure that nobody messes with you."

Rainbow jumped up and put her arm around Sunset's shoulder, ruffling her hair with her other hand. "And if anybody does decide to mess with you, we'll make sure they know not to do it again."

"Thanks girls. What did I ever do to deserve friends like you?"

Fluttershy stood as well. "Everyone deserves to have good friends. Friends can make your life so much brighter. We had to show you that, and make sure that you always had someone to bring you back to the light, even in your darkest moments."

"Ah couldn't have put it better myself Fluttershy" Applejack said, as she walked over to her back and slung it over her shoulder. The rest of them did the same, then they walked into the school together.

Sunset was no stranger to the glares she received every time she entered the school. Ever since her defeat she had been unable to enter the building without at least a dozen students giving her the stink eye. This time however, they vanished quickly, upon seeing Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity returning their glares with twice the ferocity.

The message they sent was wordless, but clear: "If you mess with her, then you mess with us, and that would be a very big mistake."

For the rest of the day there were noticeably fewer spitballs shot at her and papers wads thrown at her head. Of course, not even AJ, RD, and Rarity combined could scare away everyone. There was still the occasional disturbance directed towards her, most of which came from Gilda's crew, or the "Griffins" as the like to be called.

Since the very first moments she had set foot in the school she and Gilda had been on rough terms. Gilda had been the one on top of the school's social hierarchy until Sunset showed up. She had dethroned Gilda in a matter of weeks. After a year, the list of people she had dirt on had grown to accommodate over half the student body, and every single one of the Griffins was on that list.

After Sunset was knocked clean from the top at the fall formal, Gilda had begun to reassert her dominance, starting with leading the charge against Sunset. There was nothing she could do to stop Gilda, or at least nothing she would do. She still had all of her old blackmail files on her computer, so if she really wanted to, she could have destroyed all of the Griffins in minutes.

That wouldn't be right though. Plus her recently acquired friends would have a field day ridiculing her, and that was not something she wanted, nor needed. Instead, for now, she was content to sit and wait it out. Eventually the storm would die down and she would be forgotten and left alone.

Until then however, she had to deal with the annoying paper wads smacking her in the head every 40 minutes.

When the school day had ended she returned to her locker, breathing a sigh of relief upon finding both it, and her helmet untouched. Thankfully her motorcycle was also exactly as she had left it. She hopped on her motorcycle and headed home.

Things improved for Sunset over the next few days. Everyone, even the Griffins were less hostile towards her. At first she was confused as the why the Griffins had inexplicably ended their assault on her, but then she heard certain rumors at lunch about Rainbow and Gilda talking to each other on the soccer field with angry glares.

After Gilda walked off Rainbow had resumed soccer practice, but after only two minutes had "accidentally" hit Gilda square in the nose with a soccer ball at full speed, resulting in a broken nose for Gilda, a garbled threat directed at Rainbow, and Coach Spitfire having to practically drag Gilda off the field to the nurse's office.

Everything was going wonderfully for her. Everything was great. Then she got the text.

It was a completely normal Sunday afternoon. Sunset heard her phone buzz with Pinkie's text-tone. She opened the message to find a video attached. She chocked on her soda and nearly dropped her phone when she saw a recording of Rainbow Dash, shredding on a guitar. The guitar playing isn’t what surprised her though. She had seen Rainbow play a few times before, and she almost lived up to her bragging. What had shocked her however, was the sight of Rainbow sprouting wings and rising into the air, her body surrounded with an aura of electricity, and her eyes glowing pure white with magic.

Author's Note

Just wanted to let you know that in this story the events of Anon-a-Miss never happened. So don't be expecting a chapter on that. I'm not sure when I'll get the next chapter out. As always you may criticize me as you wish, I only ask that if you dislike this story you tell me why. Red out.

Next chapter: Redemption