Author's Note

A/n just so you know this gets a little dark this chapter.

Chapter 3

Sunset Shimmer tossed her bag into the corner next to the door, as she entered the old run down office inside an abandoned warehouse that she called home, today had not been a good day, not that she could tell someone what a good day consisted of. She had been unable to find a new part-time job, nobody wanted to hire someone with her reputation and now she only had five dollars to her name. If she didn't find a job soon she would have to drop out of school and find a full-time job at one of the factories that are always hiring. She didn't want to do that but, unless she finds something soon, she wouldn't have much of a choice, she needed money to survive.
She crawled into the pile of blankets she used as a bed, piling them up over her in a vain attempt to stay warm.
She let out a nasty sounding cough, then again the way she was coughing she will probably die from bronchitis before she finds a job at this rate. Now that would be nice to simply leave due to natural causes. That way the Princess's friends wouldn't have to explain to her why they didn't want to be her friend. They could just explain that she had got sick and passed on before they could even make friends. Heck, she would probably be doing everyone a favor, including herself, if she just helped the process along.

...

Crystal Rose hurried through the mall, her friends spreading out as she hurried around. The clue Pinkie gave them had been a bust, Apparently, she had been fired the week before. Luckily there was enough information just by asking around for them to find out which stores she had applied at that day.

"Yeah, she was here, about an hour ago," the manager of one store stated, "Not that I was interested in giving her a job. I've heard about her reputation. Nobody who is that mean as to threaten to hurt a fellow student is going to work here, honestly, I'm surprised that your mother didn't expel her."

Crystal shrugged, "She's pending expulsion."

The manager huffed, "Still," he said, "That girl ought to just go back to where she came from."

Applejack grabbed Rainbow as she charged forward, "What gives you the right to talk to her like that?"

"All of her peers have told me that she isn't from around here, she should go back to where she is from." he shrugged as if it was the only solution, "Then again they probably don't want her there either."

Crystal Rose glanced at her friends, no matter what Sunset Shimmer had or had not done nobody deserved to be talked about like that, behind there backs or to their face it didn't matter. "Come on girls, let's go, we'll check out the apartment duplex Pinkie dropped her off at last week."

Applejack shook her head, "Ah hate ta break it ta ya, but we don't have time ta check all of the apartments before ah have to get home ta make curfew."

"What if Sunset doesn't actually live there?" Fluttershy whimpered, "we would knock on all those doors for nothing"

"If only we could know where to find her." Rarity sighed, pressing the back of her hand to her forehead.

Applejack tapped her chin, "Y'all remember when Applebloom got lost in the woods near mah place?"

"Yeah," Pinkie exclaimed, "And Crystal Rose just started walking and headed straight for her!"

"And there was the time Sweetie Bell got lost at the amusement park, why, Crystal Rose, darling, I believe you were the one who found her, weren't you?"

"Yeah, and that one time, when I, yah know after that one game, Crystal was the one who found me and brought me home," Rainbow added.

"It's like you have some sort of finding six sense," Pinkie stated before quickly pushing everybody out of the way as a couple of pairs of shoes fell from the balcony above, "Sorry girls, my Pinkie sense was tingling."

"Do you think you can use your Crystal sense to find Sunset, Darling?"

"I don't know Rarity, I know you guys and your sisters a lot better than I know Sunset, besides, I never try to find someone, I just," Crystal shrugged, "find them."

"Can you 'just find' Sunset Shimmer then?" Rainbow asked.

...

Crystal Rose stopped in front of the old abandoned warehouse building, "She's in here," she stated.

"Ah still don't understand why you didn't just use your Crystal sense in the first place," Applejack groaned, "Then we wouldn't be in this part of town this time of night."

Crystal shrugged, "I don't like using it as a first course unless it is an emergency, in which case yes I'll use it."

Rainbow Dash and Applejack pried the door open and the six friends slipped through.

Inside the warehouse was covered in a thick layer of dust, abandoned crates towered over them in stacks with tons of cobwebs clinging to them. Rarity screamed and jumped into Rainbow's arms as a rat scurried pass. Rainbow gave her a look before dropping her, "Get a grip Rarity it was just a rat."

"You scared it, poor little fellow," Fluttershy whispered, causing the others to give her a look, they had forgotten just how much she loved animals in the years they have been apart.

"I'll hardly deem this place livable," Rarity stated as she grimaced with each step that she took, "This place is a real health hazard."

Crystal Rose nodded, "I'll talk Sunset into coming home with me, now that Cadence got married we have a spare bedroom, I'm sure Mom and Aunt Luna know what to do about a homeless student."

"First we need to find her," Applejack pointed out stopping at the foot of a set of stairs that lead up to the old warehouse manager officer, "Now which way do we go?"

Rarity pointed to the steps, while it was clear that the rest of the room was rather dusty there were footsteps clearly set in the dust of each step, "I suggest we look up there."