I Like You Just the Way You Are
“Secret stealer!”
“Liar!”
“She-Demon!”
“Go away, you freak! We don’t want you around! You ruin everything!”
“I trusted you!”
Five pairs of angry, pained eyes bored into her, as well as the rest of the customers of Sugarcube Corner, daring her to do something that they could condemn.
Sunset stood silent, defeated, looking upon the five girls she once called her friends. She couldn’t believe that this was happening, yet she also couldn’t bring herself to try and reach out. It was useless, they would never believe her, nor would they ever accept her.
Deep down, she had known that their friendship wasn’t everything it seemed. She had hoped, if only for a while, that maybe she had actually found a bond that wouldn’t break under the lightest of stress. It wasn’t to be, however, as she had single handedly destroyed any chance of redemption the moment she made the decision to dominate the school.
Would her demons ever leave her? Or was she doomed to be haunted by the spectre of her misdeeds? Either way, she couldn’t afford to try, only to be broken again.
“Fine. I’m going. You won’t need to- *sob* Y-you won’t need to see me again. I’m done. Twilight was wrong; for me, there is no other way. I just want to be left alone.”
She threw down her journal, the one thing that connected her to her mentor, as well as her mother figure, and watched as it threatened to fall apart from the force of the impact.
“Here, take it. You obviously need it more than I do. Maybe Twilight will talk to you and make sure your friendship doesn’t fall apart like last time.”
Turning away from the ones who had broken her, she didn’t see three pairs of eyes watching her, guilt in their eyes. They obviously hadn’t thought this through. Applebloom looked towards the other two members of the Canterlot Movie Club, “Girls, I think we need to tell them the truth. We can’t ruin one person’s life just because we got jealous.”
“What!? But, that was our whole plan! What was this all for if we give up right as we have her away from Rainbo- I mean our sisters!?” said Scootaloo, heatedly contesting the issue.
“AB’s right, Scootaloo, we can’t keep this up.Based on what I’ve seen from the school, if we keep going, we’ll end up being worse than the sirens, mainly ‘cause we didn’t use any freaky magic to break up the students!”
“Fine, but I don’t like where this is going. We’ll end up grounded for sure.”
“Oh believe me, grounding will be the least of it, if I know my sister.”
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Arriving in her apartment, Sunset looked around at her depressing environment. Sure, it had all the items you’d expect, but it just felt empty. There was no spark, no life in the things that lined the shelves and walls. In the corner sat a wastebasket with all of her pictures of her friends. She’d thrown them in there after the first time they’d rejected her. A fit of rage, but one that she had yet to reverse, mainly because she had given up hope of reversing the course of this whole string of events.
Anon-A-Miss had gotten what she wanted; the destruction of Sunset Shimmer. She had been thoroughly outcast and made a laughingstock. Now there was nothing left for her. She only needed to wait out the rest of the weekend. There would be some bad weather coming tomorrow, and she didn’t want to get frostbite or worse. Come Monday, though, she planned to walk through the portal back to Equestria. She had already made plans to serve out whatever sentence Celestia had planned for her, and then wander the lands, making sure never to encounter her former friends again.
Her eyes heavy with the day’s exhaustion, she laid down on the couch, turning the TV on for some background noise. Having formerly been a pony, she had heightened hearing, which translated in her human form as tinnitus, the constant ringing in her ears a maddening drone. She swore as she thought about it she could hear Pinkie Pie saying, “Well, silly-billy, if your ears are ringing, maybe you should pick up and see who’s on the other end!” The chuckle this brought in no way alleviated her sadness, and only further cemented her belief that her isolation was bringing with it insanity.
Slowly, with the TV droning on with a telethon about the a Christmas play, she slowly fell asleep.
________________________________
♪It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood
A beautiful day for a neighbor
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?♪
Coming out of her sleep, Sunset was assaulted with the brightness of the morning sun, as well as the soft voice of an old man. She looked towards her TV to see a man in a cardigan singing as he welcomed his audience, his “television neighbors,” and treated them as if they were there with him.
It was odd, she thought, that there would be a show like this, evidently aimed at young children, when there were so many loud and obnoxious cartoons to fill the void in the otherwise tranquil lives of childhood.
As she moved to turn the channel, she had a second thought, and decided she’d humor the show for an episode. It seemed to be relaxing, sort of like that painter that seemed to think that trees were happier if they were short. Oh, how the ents in her world wood get a kick out of that! (heh)
After the episode had finished, which wasn’t that long, she went to make herself some coffee while letting the program continue. She didn’t have anything to do, so why not? The short thought threatened to bring her low, but hearing the man’s gentle voice as he sang about the fears of falling down the drain brought a smile to her lips. Even something as genuinely impossible as that he had an answer for.
Coming back to her living room, she observed as he showed the audience how bubble gum was made. As she kept watching, she noticed that the man, Mr Rogers, she’d learned, was very calm and deliberate with treating each situation, no matter how silly, with the utmost respect. She had to give the man respect, not many adults value the opinions or the troubles of a child as worth their attention. But Rogers not only respected them, he reveled in their differences. She saw him as he interacted with a little boy, named Jeff, and talked about how he could ride around in his wheelchair. Disabilities were rare in Equestria, but were no less taboo to those who looked down on others. It was good to see someone treating everyone with kindness.
As the last episode for the morning wrapped up, Sunset prepared to go and get some cleaning done, but just then, she heard him singing, and the words struck her to her soul.
♪It’s you I like,
It’s not the things you wear,
It’s not the way you do your hair–
But it’s you I like♪
Sunset’s eyes prickled. Her heart jumped. No, there was no way he could ever say that to her! After all, if he knew what she’d done, he would avoid her like the plague. Yet, she wanted, so desperately, to have someone, anyone tell her that genuinely. How could anyone, anyone like her?
♪The way you are right now,
The way down deep inside you–
Not the things that hide you,
Not your toys–
They’re just beside you.♪
Well, there it was, he was talking to the children. But, why did it feel like he was talking to her, too? What was it in his words, his voice that would just speak to her as if from his heart to hers? Did this world have heartsong too? Either way, she couldn't help but feel accepted for the first time in her life.
♪But it's you I like
Every part of You
Your skin, your eyes, your feelings
Whether old or new♪
Every part? Even the part of her she hated? The part of her that was all of her past actions, thoughts so full of selfishness and pride? He liked them too? Nothing had ever made her feel so loved than those words in that moment.
♪And I hope that you'll remember
Even when you're feeling blue
That it's you I like
It's you yourself
It's you
It's you I like♪
Sunset sat there, fully aware that she was crying, yet not caring in the least. At that moment, she was at peace, knowing that no matter what, at least one person cared enough to show her the appreciation and affection she craved, even if he were a stranger to her.
You made this day a special one. You know how? By just you being yourself. There's only one person in the whole world exactly like you, and that's you yourself. And people can like you exactly as you are. Because I like you very much.
There it was. Just being herself, Sunset could be special. Why did those few words speak more to her than anything else she'd ever heard since being saved from her demons? She might never know, but she knew one thing: she would get through this, and she'd be better for it.
Smiling slightly, Sunset prepared to go out of her front door, knowing that she could face whatever came next. As she moved to open her door, however, she heard a knock.
“Sunset! Please open up! It's us, we need to talk to you! We're sorry. Apple Bloom and the girls explained everything to us, and we want to make up for our mistakes! Please darling, let us in!”
Sunset took a deep breath, knowing that no matter what, she was going to be okay.
