It was the last day of school at Canterlot High School, but holiday cheer was almost impossible to find. Anon-a-miss had successfully torn apart the school, spreading distrust and disharmony everywhere– even the usually easy-going students were unhappy.

Sunset Shimmer paused outside the front doors of CHS. She closed her eyes and clenched her fists. Was she ready for this? Another day of insults and abuse from people she once helped to unite? Her eyes snapped open, blazing with fury and newfound determination.

She pushed open the doors and marched inside. The shouting inside stopped. All heads slowly turned to face Sunset. Eyes narrowed; fists reached into pockets. Sunset walked briskly, almost jogging, trying to get somewhere a little safer before–

An empty soda can hit her in the shoulder.

–that.

Suddenly, rubbish was flying towards her from all directions. Wads of paper, tin cans, bottles, even things like pens and erasers. Everyone wanted to show their distaste for the anon-a-miss scapegoat.

Sunset shielded her face with her arms and stumbled forwards. "Too slow... again." she sighed to herself. The rubbish throwing was becoming a daily occurrence. She was pretty certain people deliberately hoarded their trash to attack her...

At least today was the last day; Sunset consoled herself with that thought. Then a wave of horror hit her as she realized: she had nowhere to go. Mr Rich had given her ten minutes to gather all of her belongings that morning before warning her to "STAY AWAY FROM MY FAMILY AND ME!"

Her only possessions in this world were in the tattered rucksack and the large sports bag attached to her rucksack. She thought it kind of lucky she didn't have much to pack, being extremely poor. She hadn't had many bits on her when she came to this lousy world from Equestria.

Sunset found it funny to wonder if her landlord would still have kicked her out if he knew she was the adopted daughter (kind of) of a magical pony princess who could control the sun and was practically a goddess. An amusing thought, but she knew that wouldn't help her now.

Sunset made it to her locker and deposited her heavy bags inside, only filling her backpack with the books she needed for class. She picked up the leather-bound book with the two toned sun on it. Her cutie mark... Her journal... Sunset debated taking the book with her, but decided against it. There was no point; Twilight hadn't been replying lately so there was no help coming from Equestria.

Slamming the locker shut, she was just turning around when a hand grabbed her shirt and pulled her almost off her feet. She found her face less than two inches away from one of the most feared girls in Canterlot High.

Gilda.

The girl in question smiled a menacing grin. "I think it's time someone taught you a lesson, huh Anon-a-Miss?" She slammed Sunset back into the locker, still holding her by the rim of her shirt.

Sunset growled. Fighting for air, she choked out "How... many times... do I have... to... say... I'm not... ANON-A-MISS!" she swung her leg and kicked Gilda painfully in the shin. The bully let go of Sunset, who quickly regained her balance and raised her fists defensively.

"You just made a big mistake, and here I thought you were supposed to be smart..." Gilda also raised her fists. "Bring it."

Sunset easily blocked Gilda's first few punches, thanking Celestia that she took self-defence classes when she first came to this world. However, Gilda's next effort was more strategic; when Sunset went to block the swing, her opponent's other fist landed in her gut, leaving her winded.

"And that was just the first of many," Gilda smirked. Striking whilst Sunset was down, the bully landed two swift kicks and a punch to her opponent before Sunset got back in the fight.

Sunset knew she had to get her brain in gear if she wanted to stay in one piece. A crowd was quickly starting to gather, eager to see who would prevail, and Sunset knew that it had to be her if she was to stay relatively uninjured.

Gilda kept throwing punches (and the occasional kick) but Sunset was ready for her now. Before Gilda knew what was happening, Sunset's fist had connected with her eye, causing it to explode with pain.

"You'll pay for that you little-" Gilda narrowed her good eye while holding the other in her hand. "Boys? Now."

Three boys elbowed their way roughly to the front of the crowd. Sunset recognized then immediately as Hoops, Score and Dumbbell– or more commonly known as Gilda's three henchmen. This could only go badly.

Chuckling darkly, Gilda gleefully watched as Hoops and Dumbbell seized Sunset's arms and pinned her against the locker behind her. She didn't even get a chance to resist.

Struggling in the boys' strong grips, Sunset felt her inner fire of determination start to go out. Gilda was walking towards her slowly, ever so slowly. However, there was nothing slow about the fist that flew forward and into Sunset's rib cage a second later.

Sunset could see how this fight was going to play out. The crowd were starting to yell out encouragements to Gilda which made each hit sting more. It was beginning to turn from a fair (ish) fight into a merciless beating– with her on the receiving end. "No..." she murmured. "Somebody... please..." her voice trailed off.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Rainbow Dash's distinctive hair at the front of the crowd, although she could not see her facial expression. It did not matter. Rainbow could see for herself the predicament Sunset was in, yet she hadn't lifted a finger to help.

Rainbow wasn't the only familiar face Sunset could see. Nearby, Applejack's trademark Stetson was also visible, and still no help came. Sunset bent her head down and any last trace of hope she still had vanished into thin air. A lone tear crept down her face.

As Gilda was about to point out this emotional weakness of Sunset's, a stern voice filled the corridor:

"I hope you have a good reason for this, Miss Griffin."

Sunset had never been happier to see Canterlot High's rather mysterious Vice-Principal. The woman's normally impassive look had been replaced by one of thunder; her eyes were narrowed and her mouth was drawn in a thin line.

"In my office. Now."

Gilda knew better to refuse, but under her breath she growled "This isn't over yet Anon-a-Miss. I'll get you for what you posted about me."

Hoops and Dumbbell finally let go of a Sunset and tried to slip into the crowd, but Vice-Principal Luna was not about to let them get away that easily.

"You don't get away that easily boys. Office. Now. You too Score." She addressed the third boy, who was trying to sink into the wall in an attempt not to be noticed.

Luna walked off with the four bullies in tow. The students who had gathered to watch were quickly dispersing and heading to class.

The fight itself had lasted less than ten minutes, but to Sunset it had felt like much more then that. Her left cheekbone ached, as did multiple places on her rib cage and stomach. Her arms also felt sore from where the boys had been pinning her against her own locker. Really though, Sunset felt she had gotten away lightly. She knew if Gilda caught up with her again, she wouldn't be so lucky.

Since she wasn't terribly hurt, Sunset chose to ignore the injuries she had and try to get on with her day. Picking up her bag from where she had dropped it, Sunset walked as fast as she could to get to her first class of the day (maths) before the bell rung. She made it just a few seconds before the bell rung, and sighed in relief.

Her day passed as normal, the usual glares she received being more triumphant than usual because she had 'gotten what she deserved' that morning. The only person not to glare at her was Fluttershy who shot her a look of concern as she sat alone in the cafeteria before quickly returning to her own lunch.

In the corridors, people took delight in shoving past her roughly, although Sunset could deal with that. It just made her feel sour.

Eventually, after many hours of emotional torture, the school day was over. The winter holidays were finally here– not that Sunset was happy about that. She had nowhere to go, nothing to do and no one to spend Christmas with. Not any more.

Sunset paused outside Canterlot High's entrance. "Maybe it's worth trying to talk to the girls one more time..."

She headed towards Sugarcube Corner.

Author's Note

Hey everyone, hope you enjoyed that chapter and sorry I left it so long!

This chapter was a flashback to what happened on the last day of school; the story will go back to Fluttershy and Sunset in the next chapter (whenever that will be ).

Thanks for reading!